Isara Jones: Starfleet's Official Hugger
by Athena'sDragon
Summary: Isara Jones is just another medical student trying to escape her past. When a chance encounter crashes her into the lives of Jim Kirk and Leonard McCoy, she discovers a new (and strange) skill, and also happens to find the love of her life- but the Enterprise might not be able to handle all of the craziness she brings. Bones/OC. First in my Isara Jones series.
1. Prologue: A Bit of a Joke

**Author's Note:** I went to see _Into Darkness_ last Friday, and it was AMAZING! Afterwards I was having this random conversation about how Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Khan made me feel conflicted about hating the character, and how I felt like, if someone just gave him a hug, everything would have been okay. "In fact, if the _Enterprise_ had an official hugger, a lot of their problems would be gone!" That night I lay awake in bed, the first chapter of a fanfic swirling through my mind...

This was going to be a single-chapter very strange fluff, but I'm about three and a half chapters in and there's a hint of plot (and unresolved character relationships- !) so it may run a little long.

There are some multi-fandom references in here, mostly canon. See if you can spot the one in this chapter! First to comment with the correct one gets a mental hug. :-)

Also, if you like _Phsych_ (there are a whole world of "I Like Psych" jokes to be made there), skip on over to visit my good friend soccergirlkj! She's a brilliant writer and has just posted her first wildly popular fanfiction.

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Star Trek_ (in any of its incarnations), and anything you recognize isn't mine. Isara Jones and Alanna Hunt are mine, though.

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**Prologue: A Bit of a Joke**

_Time period: beginning of _Star Trek VI (2009).

_Isara's POV_

It all started out as a bit of a joke- Isara Jones, Official Hugger.

I was in Starfleet academy at the time, training to be a medical officer on one of the brand new starships. My roommate Alanna Hunt was training to be an officer of one of the same. She was nice enough, if not necessarily the very brightest, and we got on well. It was a hard course that I was in, but I was doing well. The campus was lovely, and there was plenty of time to study and have some fun. I was finally coming out from under the shadow of what had happened before I joined.

Alanna took the Kobyashi Maru test one sunny day in early August, and I turned up to support her because my classes were all in the afternoon. I watched her face as she watched her simulated crew and the crew of the other ship die a simulated death. She looked terrified, frustrated, resigned and distraught all at once. The teachers were merciless, quickly rotating through the batches of students to experience the torture.

We marched back across the campus to our barracks, for once glad of the regulation skirts as we laughed at the men sweating in their stiff uniforms. Alanna's laughter seemed forced, and I could tell that the test had really hit her hard. Soon we lapsed into silence as we trudged home.

That evening we sat in our room, she too depressed to go out and me too worried to leave her alone. I lay on my bed with my legs bent and my arms around them so that my knees brushed my chin and each hand clasped the opposite wrist. Seeing Alanna so distressed was starting to affect me, too.

On a total whim, I stood up, crossed the room, and wrapped her in a brief, firm hug, my wrists crossing between her shoulder blades and our chests pressed together without any other contact. It was the kind of hug that said "I'm sorry, that really was unfair and it wasn't your fault, why don't you cheer up and we can go do something fun." When I pulled away, she was eyeing me a little suspiciously, but her shoulders had relaxed and the corners of her mouth were starting to pull up into a smile.

"Is that something you learn in your medical classes?"

"What?" I stepped back and shuffled the papers on my desk self-consciously. I didn't know what had made me hug her, but I hoped that it wasn't going to get me teased for the rest of the year.

"It's just… I dunno, Isara, this is going to sound really weird, but that was the perfect hug for how I was feeling." Her face broke into a full smile. "That's brilliant! You should be a professional hugger."

I laughed along with her, slightly relieved, and tossed her her coat. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind as an alternative if I fail all my classes."  
We headed out for an evening of fun, and I promptly forgot the incident…

* * *

…until the next week.

The second half of the training captains was taking the test, and, while I didn't know any of them this round, Alanna dragged me along to see what would happen.

"I hear that Kirk guy is taking it again." She leaned in conspiratorially, her long blonde hair swinging in time with my dark hair.

"Again?" I laughed and swung my arms as I walked. "Masochist."

Alanna looked dubious. "I dunno, Isara, he's pretty sharp. You know who his dad was, right?"

"Of course I do. I just think that he needs to stop riding on his dad's reputation and actually do something to prove himself." My voice had quickly turned harsh.

"Maybe he'll be the first one to pass the test! Wouldn't it be amazing if we were there to see that?" I shrugged halfheartedly. "Why do you hate him so much?"

I gaped. "Have you ever encountered him when he's drunk? Have you ever encountered him at all? He's the biggest womanizer on campus!" I paused, then continued, a little less sure of myself. "I was walking home one night, he just ran up and grabbed me and tried to kiss me. I literally had to fight him off."

"And that's bad… why?" She grinned mischeviously.

Before I could respond (or even roll my eyes, or maybe slap her), the cadet in question strolled past, trailing Leonard McCoy. McCoy was just ahead of me in med training, and one of the top in our classes. He was young, tall, and a little bit handsome. He could have had better friends than Kirk, but I heard that they met when they were both enlisting. Not that I was interested or anything.

Kirk interrupted the apparent argument that the two were having- it sounded like McCoy was with me on this one- to catcall me and Alanna. She blushed and waved, but I gave him my best fiery glare and turned up my nose. That had the opposite effect than what I wanted.

"Hey there, what was that for?" Kirk stopped, much to the chagrin of McCoy, and swaggered over to me. I didn't respond. "What, too good for a man from Iowa? Where are you from, then?" I leaned away as well as I could without backing into Alanna.

"Look Kirk, if you're going to take the Kobyashi Maru test again, you're obviously not that bright." McCoy snickered and Alanna looked horrified. "Maybe I'm not being clear." I took an aggressive step forward, causing him to stumble backwards. "BACK OFF!" Without waiting for any reaction, I grabbed Alanna's wrist and tugged her off towards the building.

"We'll see about that test!" the fading call drifted forward to me, barely audible over McCoy's now hearty laughter.

* * *

When we were safely inside, Alanna turned to watch me sitting hunched over and fuming. In her best "deep" voice, she offered her analysis. "You've been hurt bad, Isara." When I didn't contradict her, she nodded sagely. "Boyfriend?" I shrugged. "Abusive?"

"No, just… messy. Jimmy was his name. I wanted to break up, he wouldn't leave me alone. Ever. It was a little scary. I had to join Starfleet to get away in the end. I mean, I love it here, but that's why I came originally." I sighed. "I kind of have… affection issues now. I mean, friends are great-" I gave her a quick smile- "but when guys like Kirk come up and are all in my face, I just get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach." This was more than I had told anyone here, and I immediately regretted it. "Just… forget it. I don't want to talk about it."

She leaned over and gave me a hug, but it was awkward, all elbows sticking out, and it shouted "I'm sorry, but I don't really understand and yes I'd love to just forget about it." I sighed and tried to smile anyway.

"Kirk, James T.!" I watched the young cadet swagger- did he ever walk normally?- down into the simulation cockpit. We couldn't hear what he was saying, but Lieutenant Uhura was clearly agitated. Professor Spock looked down on all of it, a rare frown settling heavily on his features. It was clear that the simulation was not going as planned, though Kirk, munching away on his apple, seemed unfazed.

Suddenly, without warning, all of the lights went out in the training center, save emergency lighting. When the system rebooted, I could see from the screen in the cockpit that something was different.

My mind was racing. The little cheat! When so many people had taken that test and failed, why did he have to go and make a big splash by just running a little computer program? That was what must have happened, after all. Anyone could have beaten it like that. I wasn't even in Captains' training, and I could have done that. The line of cadets waiting to take the test gasped and then started whispering. Their murmured accusations sounded like the buzz of a hornet's nest. One person somewhere in the audience clapped loudly, once, twice, three times, and was quickly hushed.

The annoyance that I was feeling reached a crescendo as Kirk spun around in his Captain's chair, his mouth still full of apple and a stupid grin spread across his face, looked right at me, and winked.

* * *

Alanna somehow kept me from ranting all the way back to our barracks by engaging me in a sympathy party for the other cadets that we were walking with. It was then that she brought it up.

"Hey, if you're feeling really down, Isara here gives the best hugs this side of the mountains." I stared at her, astounded that she would bring up such an inconsequential bit of information for teasing when there were much more important things to be derisive about. One person in particular, who shall remain unnamed but whose initials are J.T.K.

"Really?" one of the other girls looked dubious. "Is she…?"

I started, waving my hands as if to clear the air. "No, no! Just, Alanna was kind of down after her test, I gave her a hug and she said it was exactly what she needed, and then she cheered up. That's all." I glared at Alanna, trying to convey one big sarcastic THANKS as loudly as possible while remaining silent.

There was a long, awkward silence as everyone gave it some thought. "Well, I don't know about you lot, but I could do with a hug." Another girl stepped forward despondently. "I mean, I didn't even get to take the test! I just…" she trailed off, her lip trembling. "I mean, it's hard enough for women to become captains without that idiot jumping in there and…" she trailed off again.

I followed my impulse with slightly more hesitation this time, but stepped forward and hugged her all the same. It was a slightly longer hug, just a little closer, than the one that I had given Alanna. My arms wrapped all the way around her without trapping her and my fingers splayed soothingly on her back. This one said, "I may not know you but I'm in the same boat, being a woman doctor is hard, too, but shh, it will be ok, Kirk is just a big idiot and you're better than him anyway."

When I pulled away, she looked a little dazed. "Wow, that was… that was actually really amazing. How did you learn to do that?"  
I shrugged, self-conscious again now that I wasn't under the influence of my apparently-excellent hugging instinct. "I just kind of… knew. I hadn't paid any attention to it before, but I guess I'm just good at reading emotions." I stood thoughtfully for a moment. "Maybe I have a natural instinct, enhanced by the psychology training I'm doing in med…"

I ended up hugging every girl in the group that we were with, and all of them agreed that it was "exactly what they needed" and I was an "amazing hugger." By the end of the evening, when we were all a bit tipsy from a conciliatory night out, I was declared Starfleet's "Official Hugger."

* * *

That was the first time that it really stuck. After that, friends would come to me when they were breaking up, moving, getting promoted or demoted, anxious about a test or a date, or really anything that made them happy or sad or scared. Men and women came to me for hugs. Soon they started bringing friends, and the friends started bringing friends, and then for my birthday Alanna gave me an official-looking sign to put on our door that said "Isara Jones: Official Hugger. Best hugs this side of the mountains."

Of course that led to bad things, too. Once I answered a knock to see none other than James Kirk standing there, grinning wickedly, and probably quite drunk. He pointed to the sign.

"Is that a euphemism?"

He was walking around campus with a door-shaped mark on his face for a very long time after that.

Shortly afterwards, I answered another knock, a little more cautiously, to find McCoy looking anxious about being found in the women's barracks.

"Hey, Jones. I just wanted to say sorry for Kirk. I know he's an ass. He knows he's an ass. I don't know why he needed to make that point to you; I'm just sorry about it. I'll make sure he leaves you alone." All that in one breath, and no chance for me to reply before he had hurriedly loped down the hallway to the stairs. I stood there for a moment, wondering what on earth could have made that man sound like an anxious schoolboy. He was nice enough, and I supposed that his behavior could be explained by his genuine concern about Kirk's behavior.

The, just as soon as he had left, he was back, this time saying, "Oh, and… good for you, standing up to him like that. God knows where we'd be if he always got everything he wanted." This was accompanied by an honest grin, which I returned. Then I followed my impulse, which I was becoming used to doing.

This hug was quick but close, my head all the way forward to look back over his shoulder. It said, "Thanks so much, I needed that. Friends?" I could see in his eyes that that was acceptable, so, still grinning, I said "First hug is free of charge."

His eyes widened and his tone turned accusing. "You actually charge people for hugs?"

I laughed. It felt good, like the bad feeling that Kirk had caused in the bottom of my stomach was lightening. "Of course not, don't be an idiot. They're not that amazing."

"Oh, I dunno, that was pretty good." My grin widened as his faded and he realized the possible interpretation of his words. "You know, in a… friends… kind of way… you know?" He saw me laughing and shrugged. "You're just going to watch me dig myself into a hole, aren't you?"

"Yep." I beamed even wider before giving him a light punch on the shoulder. "It's ok, though. I get that a lot. Must be magic." There was a companionable pause until I realized that Alanna was eavesdropping from behind the door. I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for coming, that was nice to hear. I'm glad that all of the upperclassmen aren't total jerks."

"Aren't you an upperclassman?" He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Oh yeah…" my expression turned thoughtful. "I keep forgetting that I skipped a year a while back."

"Really?" His eyebrows raised even higher.

"No, idiot! Do you honestly think that Starfleet would let anyone get away with that? I'm just not used to being an upperclassman, that's all. I honestly forget how old I am sometimes, I think all of these med classes might have pushed my basic information out of my head." I could still feel Alanna's eyes on me, and decided to take definite action about it. "You ought to know at this point that my roommate is hiding behind the door because she probably thinks you're my boyfriend."

"Do not!" Alanna stepped into view, her face flushed as she hastily readjusted her skirt. "Isara has been through a lot, I just want to make sure you weren't here to harass her." I stared at her, and she shrugged before adding, "…and I thought he was your boyfriend." McCoy looked taken aback, I was simply exasperated, and Alanna was hovering between triumph and looking as though she wanted to melt into the floor.

We all ended up sharing a laugh at the absurdity of the situation. I felt good, happier than I had in a while, as I looked at my two new allies. Ok, maybe Alanna had always been an ally, and I had just never realized the depth of her loyalty. And McCoy was definitely… nice. Whoever he chose to hang out with. The two of them made the rest of that year a lot more bearable, and it was all thanks to that stupid joke about hugging.

It really was just a joke, nothing more. Just a silly coincidental "skill" that made no difference, especially to my career. Or so I thought…

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So, what did you think? Was I accurate with the original _Trek_ characters? Let me know, I love to improve!

I might do a future chapter from Bones's POV. Don't you want to know what he thinks of Isara? ;-)

Finally, please review/follow! I need to know if this is worth continuing. Also, check out my other fics, which are _Sherlock_ and _Doctor Who_ themed. If you like Ten/Rose angst, _The Prospect of Death Without Love_ is for you! Thanks and love to all my readers!

~Athena'sDragon


	2. Chapter 1: The Assignment

**Author's Note: **Wow, I got a really positive reaction to the prologue! I would thank all of the people who followed, favorited and reviewed, but there were actually too many of them! Instead of naming them all here, I am doing a double upload of the next two chapters. They're both a little short, but the story actually begins to develop now.

This chapter is just kind of a background chapter to help you get into Isara's head and understand her relationship with Bones. The next has actual events.

Believe it or not, this story was not actually going to be a romance, but Bones is one of my favorite _Trek _characters and I thought he deserved it. :-)

I'm still waiting for someone to identify the other-fandom-canon-reference. It appears again in this chapter. That mental hug is still available!

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**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Star Trek_ in any incarnation. Isara Jones is my character, as is Alanna Hunt.

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**Chapter 1: The Assignment**

_Isara's POV_

_Two years later…_

It had been a long two years. There was one less planet in the sky. There was one more Commander Spock. The USS Enterprise had been launched, seen battle, and been repaired long before it had been officially christened. Jim Kirk was a Captain (my face twisted at the thought), and here I was, finally finishing med training. It was odd that Starfleet still used caps and gowns for graduation day, I mused as I once again surreptitiously blew the tassel out of my face. You would think that, after all the advances we'd made, we could have had something less… encumbering. I had already tripped twice.

My thoughts were interrupted by the band blowing one long note as they began "Pomp and Circumstance." I twisted the cap from my head and tossed it into the air. I followed its progress with my eyes, then lost sight of it as my gaze was drawn to the sky. It was a beautiful evening, bands of pale pink and purple streaking the deepening blue, and a smattering of stars was just visible if I squinted. Tomorrow we would all receive our assignments, and before too much longer I would be up among those very same stars. A burst of adrenaline released through my heart at the thought.

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It wasn't very long afterwards that I was assigned to the Enterprise. It had been decided that I needed a nice safe training job before I was a medical officer on my own (I rolled my eyes at the official order), and would therefore be training under- guess who?- Dr. McCoy. At least I would be with someone that I knew and liked.

I thought back to the long past year without him there. He and Alanna had both graduated a year ahead of me, so I had a new group of friends, but I wasn't really as close to any of them as I was to Bones (I had picked up on Kirk's nickname for him) and my old roommate. When we had been together on campus, the three of us had had a brilliant time, staying out late or staying in and watching old movies, sometimes with friends and sometimes just the three of us. That wasn't every night, of course, and it happened less and less as the finals for our separate classes approached. But it was enough.

Everyone (of course) assumed that Bones and I were dating, and, okay, so maybe there were a couple of dates in there somewhere. It never amounted to anything, probably because all the ones I could remember had been set up by Alanna. More likely because we both liked our friendship the way that it was. I'm not denying that I would have liked dating him, he was handsome and nice and we got along brilliantly. It just never happened and that was that.

Mostly we had just been good friends. He was a little older than I was, sure. He wasn't as old as he looked, though, and certainly not old enough to have an ex-wife. I wasn't exactly just out of high school, either, so we weren't as far apart as people might think.

We met originally over Kirk's rudeness, but we soon discovered that we had lots of the same interests. On top of that, he was able to talk to me about his fear of flying (which I unfortunately laughed at the first time he told me, thinking that he was joking) and I was able to talk to him about my… unfortunate relationship with Jimmy before Starfleet. We were close in the way that friends are when they can only see each other occasionally but enjoy their meetings none the less.

Now I was, for all intents and purposes, alone. Sure, I received long and regular updates from Alanna, now First Officer on… some ship or other. I felt bad for not knowing, but I hadn't paid much attention at first, out of jealousy, and then it was too late to admit that I didn't know. It wasn't the Enterprise, that much was certain. I had only heard from Bones twice- once to say that he loved the position, Kirk was improving, space was amazing, his fears were getting better, etc. etc. The second was a brief letter of the "Hey, don't panic, I'm not dead" variety after the whole… series of events at the end of last year. I decided that, though he seemed to have moved on from our friendship, we could still get along working in the same med bay.

The Captain was an entirely different issue. I supposed that it would be easy enough to avoid one man on a ship that size, but I was going to have to face him sooner or later. I felt quite silly then for reacting to him, he who had been just a stupid boy with no idea of my past, the way that I had been treated before. There were certainly worse men wandering around the world. I simply didn't want to have to figure out how to un-say all the things that I had said (there had been more besides those recounted here) without invalidating how much his actions had stung. Surely it was better to put it off for as long as possible?

The hugging thing continued too, though it wasn't as funny after my friends all left. The sign remained on my door, there were still misunderstandings about it being a euphemism, and people still came to me for hugs when they needed them. It was just one of those things that doesn't seem odd until you look back on it because it was just part of the routine.

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The next couple of days were a whirlwind. The Enterprise came back into port, Kirk was demoted, and before I had any chance to say "hi" to Bones, John Harrison bombed the London branch of Starfleet. Then came the shooting at Starfleet headquarters itself. I had never come into close contact with Admiral Pike, but the shock of his death still rocked the entire campus. In all the commotion someone forgot to change my assignment, so by the time Kirk had been re-instated I was on board the Enterprise and ready for launch.

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**Author's Note Again: **If you really like my writing, please check out my other story in progress, "Moriarty- Jane Moriarty?" which also includes a surprising romance. :-) If you're already following that story, I apologize for my recent lack of posting, but I had exams and then this story just waltzed in and took over my life...

Also, remember to vote "I Like Psych" by visiting soccergirlkj! I don't even watch Psych and I thought her fic was amazing.


	3. Chapter 2: The Enterprise

**Author's Note: **Part 2 of my double update! Again, if you like this, please review/favorite/follow/share it with your friends, it means more chapters sooner. :-)

So... Bones is back in this one! And the next chapter will be mostly from his POV. What do you think is going on in his head? Don't worry, Alanna will come back too, and Khan will definitely play a part. I'm going to see the movie again tonight, so I'll jot down a couple of notes on order of events and such. That will make it much easier to write later chapters.

Enjoy! Love to all my readers.

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**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Trek_, but Isara Jones and Alanna Hunt are mine.

**Chapter 2: The ****_Enterprise_**

_Isara's POV_

I had never been on a bigger ship. As I hiked my way through the long, white corridors towards the hospital bay, I struggled to drink in every aspect of the Enterprise. The lighting shifted from bluish white to yellowy white and back to a neutral green-white with hints of purple. The gravity field had been switched on low even though we were still in dock, which caused a slight increase in G-force. Everywhere people were rushing around in red and yellow shirts, the Starfleet logo visible on all of them, but I had yet to see anyone in a blue tunic like mine. All that I had to guide my path was the rudimentary map that I had done my best to memorize in the days after graduation.

I passed engineering, where I could hear Kirk arguing with someone who had a strong Scottish accent. I hurried past and continued my quest to find Bones. Up stairs, elevators, even ladders, and I finally realized that I was lost. I took deep breaths to calm my racing heart as I turned in circles looking for any kind of landmark, but I was in a completely unmarked hallway of barracks. I had no idea which way to go, there was no one around to ask for directions and no signs on the walls, and I was really starting to panic. What if I was lost in this ship forever, or I was so incredibly late to my first assignment that they locked my in the brig, or what if I was needed in the med bay and I wasn't there-

"Isara?"

I spun around to see Bones sticking his head around the corner, and I closed my eyes and sighed in relief. Usually that sort of anxiety was under control, but my first real space mission was not the time to have things messing with my head. By the time that I opened my eyes he had come into the hallway with me and was approaching almost cautiously, his head tilted to look at my face, his puzzlement clearly visible.

"Isara?" he asked again. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't find the med bay," I replied sheepishly with a small smile.

"No, I mean, what are you doing on the Enterprise?"

I quirked my head to one side. "What do you mean? I was assigned to train under you here, and no one switched my assignment after the Harrison thing." I could see him wince at my careless mention of the incident, and I mentally berated myself. Of course, he had worked under Pike when he had been captain of this same ship.

"Right, I know that, I got the order two weeks ago. But it was cancelled this morning, didn't anyone tell you?"

"Whaaaa….?" I tried to form a sentence but my jaw fell slack halfway through the first word. My orders had been cancelled? And no one had told me? So I had to get off the Enterprise before we launched or I would be counted as a stowaway? Yeah, I decided, that was pretty much the gist of it.

Without waiting to say goodbye to Bones, I made a mad dash around the corridor, but too late- the floor gave a slight tremor as the engines kicked in and Bones grabbed my arm.

"You can't get off now, they will have removed the boarding hallways." I panted heavily, wishing that he would release his tight grip on my arm so that I could go do something about the fact that I was stuck here. Then the ship gave an almighty jump and tossed me into the wall with Bones landing on top of me.

I was slumped against the wall with Bones sitting almost in my lap when I realized the absurdity of the situation, much as I had two years ago when I had had my first conversation with him. I chuckled, then giggled, then laughed and laughed. Bones, however, didn't respond like he had before. He picked himself up as quickly as he could, gave me a frown, then offered me a hand so that I could haul myself to my feet.

That was when I realized how much older and more serious he looked. I was sure that his old self would have laughed along with me, but this new him with its lined eyes and tired expression stayed silent. My laughter tapered off abruptly and I stood up straight.

"Sorry." I looked steadfastly at his feet. I was an illegal stowaway and I didn't recognize my best friend. Brilliant.

"Look Isara, let's get to the med bay and I'll send a signal back to the fleet. Maybe they can change your assignment back." He hesitated for a brief moment, then reached over to put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't mistake me, it's good to see you again. It's just a bad time right now, for everybody." I nodded and followed him towards the hospital bay.


	4. Chapter 3: Welcome to the Family

**Author's Note: **Wow, so much positive-ness! HUGE thanks to everyone who favorited, followed and/or reviewed. A special thanks to HaruHaruxLove for going beyond just the review and having a conversation with me about what makes this story good and which characters to develop. Also, thanks to sailinginthenoondaysun because she's a very good friend and not only puts up with me rattling on about this story whenever I see her (and taking notes when we saw the movie), but also took the time to review! Thanks to all of my friends IRL, because this is all I've been talking about since I saw the movie over a week ago.

So... this one is a little longer again. When I have short chapters I'll try to do a double update, and for now I'll try to update every two days. All you Bones/Isara shippers, this is for you!

Finally, all of my readers should know that I braved the laughter of my family and friends to take notes the second time I saw the movie, because I know that you want to see events happen in the correct order!

Thanks for sticking with this story, it means a lot to me to look at my traffic stats every morning and see how many people from all over the world are reading this. :-) Je t'aime!

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**Disclaimer:** If I owned _Star Trek_ in any way, shape, or form, Isara Jones and Alanna Hunt (my own characters) would have appeared in the movies.

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**Chapter 3: Welcome to the Family**

_Isara's POV_

At least I had finally found the med bay.

I was sitting in the corner like a punished child while Bones finished typing his request. He was sending a message back to Starfleet to tell them that I was on board the _Enterprise_ and didn't know that my assignment had been changed, and to request that I be reassigned to work under him.

I watched his face while he typed. There had been no smile, no laughter, no hug or even a "How have you been?" since I had seen him again. He seemed to be avoiding my gaze, too. Had something happened to him since I had last seen him, or had he simply moved on from our friendship? Perhaps more importantly, why on Earth should I care? We had been friends, it had been fun, he had moved on and I should too. That was it.

_Bones's POV_

_Two years earlier…_

Of course he would have to apologize for Kirk. There were no two ways about it. That med student- Isara was her name- didn't deserve the special ridicule that Kirk was directing at her, and that wasn't even including the "Is that a euphemism?" comment that he had just heard about. Just thinking about it made him mortified on Kirk's behalf. What possessed that damn kid to say things like that was anyone's guess, but at least he could do something about it. Isara was nice, they had a few of the same classes, and he was going to apologize.

He had never realized how intimidating the women's barracks looked. He tried to swallow, but it was hard with his throat so dry and his neck craned back to see the top of the towering building. After a moment of hesitation he mentally shook himself and marched in.

Why was the building intimidating? He decided to make a list to keep himself from chickening out and leaving. One- it was unfamiliar. No girlfriends for him- his ex-wife had been all the "romance" he needed for a long time- so he had never been here before. Two- he might run into someone he knew, though he hadn't recognized any of the nameplates so far. He glanced at the closest one. Ongafleur? What kind of name was that? If he did meet someone he knew, he came to number three- how would he explain his presence if he was asked? He was apologizing to some random girl that he barely knew because his idiot friend had treated her the way he treated everyone? When he put it like that, maybe it would be better if he just left and said something if he happened to see her later…

He was so busy worrying that he hadn't realized that he had reached Isara's easily-recognizable door and knocked until it began to creak slowly open. A pair of worried eyes appeared in the crack between the door and the frame, and he immediately made up his mind. If Kirk- or anybody, for that matter- had made her that wary of opening her door, then he was going to make an effort to right what had been said.

She was kind of pretty, now that he saw her up close. Her hair was dark and long, and it contrasted nicely with her very pale skin. Her eyes were rimmed with dark lashes, and the irises were big and green and liquid-looking. There were a few freckles dusted lightly across her cheekbones and the bridge of her nose. Her lips weren't full, but they were pink and looked soft… He snapped his eyes back up to hers.

"Hey, Jones. I just wanted to say sorry for Kirk. I know he's an ass. _He_ knows he's an ass. I don't know why he needed to make that point to you; I'm just sorry about it. I'll make sure he leaves you alone." He stopped to breathe and realized how stupid that had sounded. Great. Now she was looking at him, confused and suspicious, and he decided that it would be better to walk away before he said anything that he would really regret.

He could feel her watching him still as he strode down the hallway. No. Don't even think about it. She was really pretty. No. Stop it. He directed his angry thoughts towards the person who had inadvertently put him in this situation. He imagined giving Kirk a good shouting- "Damn it Jim, I'm a doctor, not your PR department!"

He thought back to what he had actually said. Maybe he should go back and add something- something to justify his visit, something to explain why she was different from all the other girls that Kirk had annoyed.

Then, just as soon as he had left, he was back. He added his best southern gentleman air as he said , "Oh, and… good for you, standing up to him like that. God knows where we'd be if he always got everything he wanted." Ok, that was good enough. He grinned, pleased with himself for rectifying the situation and gratified that the beginnings of a smile were dancing around the edges of her mouth. Then, before he knew it, she had wrapped him in a close hug that felt amazing. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed imperceptibly. This girl was going to be trouble for him.

_Two years later…_

He steadfastly refused to glance at her. She was sitting there, in his med bay, on the _Enterprise_, but he was not going to look. He certainly wasn't going to grab her and hug her and tell her how much he had missed her.

She deserved someone else. Someone younger. Someone less bitter. Someone who hadn't already been married and divorced. Someone who hadn't just had their commanding officer die. Someone who wasn't such a coward that he refused to write to his friend because he didn't want the pain of thinking about her when she wasn't there.

He finally gave in and shot a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked downcast, and he knew that it was probably because of his lack of a warm greeting. He hated himself for making her look like that. Now I'm no better than Kirk- afraid to open the door or afraid to open her heart, what's the difference? he thought bitterly.

He had thought that she would have forgotten him by now. That was his other motive for not contacting her- he wanted her to be able to move on, get a boyfriend, find some real friends and never have to deal with him again. If she moved on, then he would be able to, too. Eventually. Maybe. No, but at least he would feel all right about her end of things.

He tapped the "send" key on his computer, then turned to face her. "Starfleet should receive that message immediately. I'm sure they'll fix their error." He could feel how stiff and formal his voice sounded, and was glad that he was saved from continuing when Kirk made a ship-wide announcement. His voice rang out through the ship, explaining Pike's death, their destination, and why it was necessary for him to lead a small landing party to Kronos rather than utilizing their missiles. He finished with "Let's go get this son of a bitch."

Isara rolled her eyes. "Professional as always." He suddenly remembered her past encounters with Kirk, and was disappointed in himself for not thinking of that before.

"You're probably pretty disappointed to end up on the Enterprise." She raised an eyebrow, and he clarified. "You know, because you hate Jim- Captain Kirk- so much."

She shrugged. "I was thinking that I should probably clear that up. It's not like I have anything against him personally, he just reminded me of Jimmy. Funny coincidence, their names being so similar." She smiled briefly. "It's not important to me anymore." She glanced at him, her expression guarded. "I also thought that it might be nice to see you again. It's been a while." A pause, then "I missed you."

That was all he could take. He was so, so glad to see her again, and he had missed her beyond measure. Instead of saying all this, he just stood and smiled, offering her a hand. She used it to pull herself to her feet and right into a hug.

This might have been the tightest he had even been hugged by her. In fact, she was squeezing the breath out of him, but he didn't really notice because she left him breathless anyway. He could feel her thumb moving in small circles on his right shoulder blade. He turned his head so that he was smiling into her hair. "I missed you, too." He said it so quietly that she probably couldn't hear the exact words, but he knew that she got the idea.

_Isara's POV_

Unless I was really going crazy, that hug went way past friendship. I decided to assume that I wasn't going crazy and respond in kind. After all, if I was mistaken, he was the one who started it.

After a few seconds standing like that, he pulled away as nurses started to trickle into the med bay. He gestured me out into the corridor and we headed towards the bridge.

"I need to introduce you to Jim. Since you went through full medical officer training, you're higher ranked than the nurses. In fact, you're a little above every other medical officer besides me. The Captain has made it clear that he wants to be introduced to all senior members of medical, engineering, and security." We were standing in the elevator now, the smooth white walls glowing softly as we whooshed upwards. Within seconds the doors had slid open with a pneumatic "shhhhht" and I stepped onto the bridge for the first time.

Everyone here obviously knew what they were doing. No one stood idly, but instead spoke into headsets, slid levers and pressed buttons, or, in the case of Captain Kirk, gave precise orders. There was very little visible on the large viewscreen besides the blurred streaks of stars that indicated that we were at warp.

Bones grabbed my arm and tugged me to the side as a woman with high green bone crests instead of hair stepped out of the elevator behind me holding an electronic clipboard. There was a certain amount of bustle and noise, but it was the sound of many people all performing their individual tasks in perfect synchronization.

"Jim, we've got a new senior medical officer." I came back to focus on Kirk standing right in front of me. "I think you two have met. Jim, Dr. Isara Jones. Isara, Captain Kirk."

Kirk actually paled, which inspired me to be bold and hold out my hand first. "Pleasure," I said with a brilliant grin. Kirk, to cover his initial surprise, smiled right back. Then he turned to Bones.

"You just broke two major rules."

"Captain?"

"One- never work with someone whose name rhymes with yours. Bones and Jones- do you know how much teasing you're going to get? Two-" Kirk continued as Bones sighed. "Two, no girlfriends on board."

I chose that moment to interject, though Bones still tried to get in a strained "She's not my-" over my words.

"So you do remember me then, Kirk?"

"Yeah, it's Captain Kirk now." He grinned, then jumped topics completely and left me behind. "You have big shoes to fill, Dr. Jones."

I raised an eyebrow. "I know, Dr. McCoy is one of the best."

"True, but I meant all of the other Dr. Joneses that have come before you." My confusion must have shown because he clarified, "Well, there was Indiana Jones, and the lovely Martha Jones from Doctor Who…"

I rolled my eyes, enjoying our banter a little. Maybe this meant that we could at least tolerate each other's company. "Of course, Kirk. Captain. I should have known that you would like old bad sci-fi TV."

"Be careful how you address me, Dr. Jones. I'm above you now."

I saw the opportunity and couldn't help myself. "Is that a euphemism?" I smirked. I immediately worried that I had gone too far. Kirk looked as though I had slapped him, his mouth open in a tiny "O" and his eyes bugging out. Bones worriedly looked back and forth between us.

Kirk lost it and snorted. I chuckled too, and even Bones cracked a smile.

"Welcome to the family, Dr. Jones. I think you'll be ok here." He put out a hand to rest on my shoulder and I smiled widely.

"Proud to be here, even if the Captain _is_-" My witty response was interrupted when the ship gave a gigantic shudder and bounced me into the wall. Again.

A man that I was pretty sure was called Mr. Sulu said "Sir, we've dropped out of warp."


	5. Chapter 4: A Shameful Secret

**Author's Note: **First of all, I'd like to apologize in advance for any incorrect medical information in this story. Damn it readers, I'm a writer, not a doctor! I did take bio this year, so that should help a little.

Secondly, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to anyone who has read, is reading, or will read this or any other of my stories. Thanks, I love all of ya!

Finally, please review since I took the trouble of writing a nice, long chapter for you on a Friday night when I could have been napping. :-)

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**Disclaimer:** If I owned _Star Trek_, why would I write Bones/Isara here when I could write them into the movie? ;-)

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**Chapter 4: A Shameful Secret**

_Isara's POV_

No one had ordered me back down to the med bay, so I stood straight-backed behind the captain's chair while Bones tried to dissuade Kirk from taking a shuttle down to the planet.

"You don't rob a bank when the getaway car has a flat tire!" Bones followed Kirk around the bridge, gesturing wildly. I had never really seen the two of them together before, but it was obvious that they were really close. I felt a stab of jealously, followed by a jolt of happiness that I was apparently allowed to be possessive now, followed by a wave of guilt. I had no right to begrudge Bones and Kirk their friendship, and anyway, it was also obvious that, however much he trusted Bones, Kirk was still going to be stubborn and do what he believed to be right.

I took a moment to observe the others on the bridge, trying to clear my head from the swirling emotions inside it. First there was Commander Spock, his back bent and head lowered intently over the viewscreen at his station. Next was Lieutenant Uhura. She was gathering herself in preparation for the trip down to the surface of the planet, but her head was always slightly angled towards the Commander. I knew that they were dating, but it seemed like they were avoiding each other now. I wondered vaguely if the incident on Nibiru might have had something to do with their disagreement.

Finally was Mr. Sulu, trying not to look too pleased as he settled into the captain's chair. From what I had seen he was a good officer, but very professional. I couldn't decipher much of anything from his actions.

My observations were interrupted by Bones stage whispering at Kirk again. "You just sent that man in there with no cards and told him to bluff!"

I couldn't help but giggle at Kirk's response, ending with "Enough with the metaphors!" Bones sulked back over to keep me company behind Mr. Sulu's new chair as Kirk, Spock and Uhura exited the bridge.

Mr. Sulu made a ship-wide announcement telling the crew of the shuttle's immediate departure, then another which would be broadcasted down to the planet for John Harrison's ears only. A shiver passed down my spine as I stood at attention behind the acting captain of the most powerful ship in the fleet, listening to a threat involving the six dozen missiles that we had on board. A woman could get used to this kind of power, but I hoped that I never would. I was still fairly overwhelmed by the whole experience.

"Remind me to never piss you off, Mr. Sulu." Bones's voice once again jolted me out of my reverie. I couldn't see Sulu's smile, but I could feel it.

Before I could start to wonder whether I should remain on the bridge, Bones turned to leave and gestured me to follow him. We stepped into the elevator and the doors slid shut with a whisper.

The ride down to the med bay wasn't very long, but it felt like eons. Bones and I kept gravitating towards each other, realizing our close proximity, and edging back apart. Once our hands brushed, and we both jumped as if electrocuted. We were very careful to avoid eye contact. This was getting ridiculous.

I was going to say something to break the tension, but I didn't get the opportunity to because the door glided back open and we marched down the corridor into the med bay. At this point in the journey, the med bay was a swarm of activity. Nurses and lower level medical officers bustled around, performing checks, organizing equipment, and dealing with minor medical problems.

Bones turned to me. "There obviously haven't been any major incidents- yet, anyway." He sighed. "Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that we don't have any patients. There are a few new crewmen on this trip, and they sometimes get space sick." He gestured towards a very green-looking man perched on the end of a bed and holding a bucket. "There's an injection for that, he should be getting it any second." No sooner were the words out of his mouth than a nurse shuffled over and administered a shot to the man's upper arm. Within mere seconds the green tinge was receding from his face.

"We get a lot of patients at the beginning of each trip with illnesses, minor injuries," here he gestured towards an embarrassed-looking woman who had already broken her toe working in engineering, "and anxiety."

"Really? Do you get many people anxious enough to have to come here?"

"Yeah, a few. Anyway, I need you to just help the nurses for now while I do a little paperwork and check to see if Starfleet had okayed our request to have you on board." He gestured me towards an official looking woman with a clipboard. I flashed a quick smile and wandered over.

The woman seemed to take me in in one brief glance- from my sensible but shiny black shoes, up my long blue tunic to my Starfleet medical officer pin, to my earnest expression and functional ponytail.

"New?" She asked.

"Yes. Doctor Isara Jones, reporting for duty aboard the _USS Enterprise_."

It seemed like the woman had forgotten about me. She went back to scanning her clipboard, flipping pages back and forth and frowning. After about thirty seconds I cleared my throat softly.

"All right dear, don't rush me." The woman finally tugged a sheet of paper from her clipboard and handed it to me. "Ensign Chancey is the one with a broken toe. Scan it and deal with it however seems reasonable. Regeneration machine is there in the corner. Here's your tricorder." Then she bustled off, leaving me standing, slightly dazed, with a slip of paper and a tricorder.

After a moment to collect myself, I slipped on my best relaxed smile and walked over to the bed where Ensign Chancey sat. She looked absolutely mortified through the pain of her toe.

"Good morning, Ensign Chancey!" I double checked the paper in my hand. "It says here that you were running a routine maintenance operation on one of the consoles and dropped the interface onto your foot. Is that correct?" The woman blushed and nodded. "And one of the nurses has removed your shoes and wrapped your toe in gauze, I see. Have you been given any medicine at all?"

The woman shook her head. "I've just been sitting here waiting for a few minutes, no one has really had time to fix me up yet."

I nodded briskly. "Right, let's start with something to dull the pain while we take a look." I checked the paper for drug allergies and rifled through the cabinet opposite the bed, finally pulling out an inhaler. I held this out to her.

"Please put this into your mouth, press the top and breathe in. Hold the breath for as long as you comfortably can, then exhale slowly." I watched Chancey's grimace as the bitter medicine entered her trachea, and then she relaxed as the drug began to take immediate effect. "Can you feel the pain beginning to lessen?"

"Yes, it's much better." Chancey smiled at me, but I hardly saw because I was already bent over the offending digit. Now that the toe was numb, I was free to prod it. I knew that the tricorder would make short work of the diagnosis, but I always liked to make my own first. The toe had been crushed pretty badly, and, in addition to the shattered phalanges, the skin was already purple and stretched with internal bleeding. This injury was quite a bit nastier than first appearances would suggest, and I was thankful that I hadn't simply stuck Chancey's foot into the regeneration machine. Growing back bone was one thing, but rearranging bone fragments without exacerbating the already serious internal damage was beyond that medical miracle.

Just to verify, I took out the tricorder and set it to send all of the information it gathered directly to the medical database for the ship. I had always liked the noise that they made, sort of a soothing whirring with beeping overtones, and I was momentarily lost in memories of my days at the academy as I scanned Chancey's entire foot. The readout showed that the damage was localized to the one toe, though the rest would be a little sore from spreading bruises. The bone itself was not as badly splintered as I had worried, and it would be fine to regenerate as soon as the swelling went down. I called a nurse over.

"I'm Dr. Jones, I'm a bit new here. Can you get me a cold pack and some anti-inflammatories that won't act as blood thinners? Thanks." When the nurse hurried back a moment later, I wrapped the toe back up in clean gauze. I applied the cold pack, settled the blankets around Chancey's feet, and had her take the drugs. With a bright smile, I stood back to admire my handiwork.

"I'm afraid there's nothing that we can do until the swelling goes down, but then it will be quick work to regenerate the bones. You'll have to stay here for a few more hours, and I'll leave a record for the nurses telling them when to give you pain medicine and change your icepack, and what to do when the bruising has subsided. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Chancey shook her head, smiling. "Thanks, Doctor!" Her face fell. "I can't believe I managed to do this on the first day of the mission, though."

I knew what to do next. I stepped forward and hugged her against the pillows. This hug was reassuring and soothing, the sort that you would give to someone who had just had a bit of a shock. It said "Don't worry, you'll be ok and then everything will be back to normal." Before Chancey could respond to my hug, I stepped away from the bed and pulled out an information screen to make a note of her medical arrangements. With one last smile, I pushed the screen back into the wall and turned away.

The first thing I saw was Bones leaning against the wall. He was smiling lightly at me, but the instant our eyes met he whipped around and headed back around the corner. I followed, wondering what he had thought of how I handled my first patient.

Bones had stepped into his office, so I waited to follow him in until I had finished filling out the slip and returned to the nurse. Then I knocked and entered when I heard Bones say "Come in."

I was already talking as I went through the door. "You run an old-fashioned med bay, don't you? I mean, paper? Really? All the information is on the information screens, but you still use paper. And tricorders don't seem to be the main tool here, unlike… on other… ships…"

I trailed off as I saw the glimpse of silver that Bones was hiding under his desk, his expression guilty. Completely forgetting that he was my superior officer, I marched over and snatched the flask out of his grasp. I didn't say anything. We both stared at the solitary amber drop trailing down the side of the miniature bottle. I looked at him. He looked at the floor.

"Bones?" my voice was soft, as though I was coaxing a shy bird and didn't want to frighten it away. He sighed deeply. "You lied in your letter, didn't you." It wasn't a question. "Your aviophobia isn't getting any better." That wasn't a question either.

When we were at the academy together, I knew that Bones used drink as a coping mechanism. It didn't interfere with our friendship or his classes, so I never really said anything about it. What I hadn't known was that his problem was severe enough for him to risk demotion, possibly even expulsion, to drink on the job.

I opened my mouth, fully prepared to launch into a lecture full of moral condemnation and medical jargon, when Bones looked up. His eyes were large and he looked like a begging puppy, whether intentionally or not I didn't know. My resolve still didn't fail until I noticed the single tear quivering in the corner of his eye. I sighed and slammed the flask down onto his desk hard enough to make him jump.

"Damn it, Bones!" He shrank away from me, obviously expecting reproach, but I leaned forward and wrapped him into a hug. This hug was full of comfort and companionship, as well as warning and support. My fists pressed into his back in a way that I was sure couldn't have been entirely comfortable. Despite this, Bones melted into the hug. His nose pressed into the hollow where my neck met my shoulder, and his lips unintentionally brushed my collarbone. I shivered at the light contact.

Bones took a shaky breath and laughed bitterly into my tunic. "I don't know what you think of me now, but I deserve it. I don't know what I'm doing here, I'm terrified of space and flying but I certainly can't go back to my old life. I'm… I'm…" he trailed off and took another shaky breath, then for a moment the only sound was our breathing.

"No you're not," I said quietly. "Most of the time you're just fine. Yeah, maybe you drink a little. But from what Kirk said to me, you're still the best doctor in the fleet. That's why you're here- you love helping people, and, deep down, you love the adventure."

Bones chuckled darkly. "You've been in my sight the entire time you've been on this ship, Kirk never said anything of the kind."

"Okay, so maybe I made that part up. But the rest of it- Bones, you've barely been on-edge for this entire thing so far, even when the engines failed. The old you would have had a complete breakdown in that situation." He sighed but I didn't let him interject. "As a medical professional, my theory is that something just made you a little more emotionally unstable than usual. That's why you're shaken now, but you'll be fine again in a bit."

I pulled away and his hands slid reluctantly from my back. I could see in his eyes that he was still ashamed and unsure. As I poured the contents of the flask down the drain in the small sink on the other side of the room, I asked, "What is this stuff, anyway?"

He mumbled something unintelligible. "What?"

"Mbbmgmbrrmbm."

I looked at Bones, trying to gauge his thoughts. I decided to take a wild risk and act on my instinct- after all, it had served me well in the past. I walked back over to Bones and crouched in front of him, tipping his chin upwards with the tips of my fingers. His eyes widened in surprise as I leaned forward and delicately brushed my lips against his. When I stepped back, his eyes were shut and an expression of extreme confusion was spread across his face. I waited until his eyes had opened again before I very obviously licked my lips.

"Jack Daniels? Really, if you're going to take the risk, Bones, make it something better than _that_." With that, I turned and walked lightly out of the room.

When I was back into the main area of the med bay, I had to lean against the wall for a minute to steady my soaringly light head. Wow. Just, wow. I couldn't believe that I had just done that.

After seeing the look on Bones's face, I was pretty curious what _he_ had thought of my daring little move.

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_Bones's POV_

_Seconds earlier…_

He couldn't believe that she had caught him drinking. She was his friend, sure, but she would still probably report him to a superior officer. She would be right to do so. More than that, she was obviously ashamed of him. The disappointed look in her eyes was harder to bear than any threat of demotion.

She had asked him what he was drinking, hadn't she? He muttered something noncommittal in response.

She was coming back over. What was she doing? Why was she- oh no. She was going to kiss him. She was going to kiss him. She was going to-

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	6. Chapter 5: A New Man On Board

**Author's Note:** Did you know that this story was going to be a quick fluff, not a romance with actual plot? Oh, how the things I write develop a life of their own...

What do you think? I figured that it was just too good to be true to have Bones and Isara together so perfectly so soon into the story... hence this chapter. I have heard that the sixth chapter is always the hardest to write, and that's certainly true! But I think that I finally worked out a way to get it to work without rambling.

A gold star to anyone who can guess what the person taking the picture said. I bet no one can get it. *evil grin* Also, did _anyone_ get the canon reference in earlier chapters? Ok, I'll make it easier: which character from which fandom also had a bad relationship with a boy named Jimmy?

BTW- you clamored for Harrison to appear, so here he is. Hope you enjoy. :-)

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**Disclaimer:** If I owned _Star Trek_, would I be writing for this website or would I be writing for the show? Also, would I still be so sarcastic? I'll leave that for you to decide.

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**Chapter 5: A New Man On Board**

_Isara's POV_

The next couple of hours passed uneventfully. I ran the med bay for a while while Bones was in his office. There was nothing as serious as Chancey's toe, so I was able to leave much sooner than I had thought. I didn't want to talk to Bones again already and I didn't know where else to go, so I decided to find my sleeping quarters.

I reported to the room in the barracks that I had originally been assigned. As a member of senior staff I had a room to myself- albeit a small one- and my order change had been so last-minute that my single small bag was still sitting on the fold-out bed.

Other than the bed, there were two lights built into the ceiling which could be dimmed with a switch by the door, a desk directly across from the bed with its own chair, and a small piece of furniture that doubled as a bedside table and a chest of drawers.

I decided to try to numb out everything in my mind by performing the simple tasks of cataloguing the room and unpacking. There had been the kiss with Bones, of course, and the general stress of being new on the ship, and I was even a little anxious about the small section of the crew who were off on the away mission. Kirk had turned out ok, and he was a friend of Bones after all. Spock and Uhura also seemed nice and good at their jobs. It would be a disappointment to me if I never had the opportunity to work alongside them, not to mention the effect that it would have on those members of the crew who actually knew them.

I opened my bag and began to empty the items from inside it. First came two spare tunics, one spare medical officer pin, and another pair of black leggings like the ones I was wearing. I put these in the top drawer of my "dresser" and mentally labeled that part "uniforms." Then I pulled out a pair of jeans, a plain black crewneck t-shirt, a blue blouse, a pair of sneakers and some ordinary socks. These, along with my spare underclothes, went into the second drawer. The third drawer was quickly filled with a sensible, warm pair of pajamas and a thick pair of socks.

There were only a few more items in my bag now. The book that I was currently reading- _A Tale of Two Cities_ by Charles Dickens- was placed on top of my bedside table. Then I stopped to look at the objects in my hands.

My left hand grasped a crumpled and beaten sign- "Isara Jones: Official Hugger. Best hugs this side of the mountains." The glitter glue around the edges had shed on to all of my clothing- _that_ was sure to get teasing from Kirk- but the bold letters still conveyed their message. In my right hand was a picture frame.

This was not just any picture frame. This picture frame represented two months' savings, for one thing- Starfleet cadets had to live cheap. The thick silver border was delicately engraved with a pattern of climbing vines hung with blooming flowers and miniscule birds. The picture that it held, however, was worth so much more. It was vivid and starkly contrasted, and seemed to pop at you from wherever you were in relation to it. It showed three Starfleet cadets, though you would never know it because of their outfits. Alanna Hunt, my old roommate, was wearing a bright pink sundress and her blonde hair flowed down her shoulders, gleaming in the bright sunlight. Bones was in the middle wearing black slacks and a white t-shirt. I was on the far right, and I appeared to glow slightly in the bright lemon yellow dress that I wore. Bones had his arms over the shoulders of the two women and we were all three laughing hard at something that the person taking the picture had just said. The Cascade Mountains rose in the background, purple and blue and only differentiated from the sky by the slim line of white that dusted their peaks.

I remembered that day as though it were the day before, but, at the same time, it seemed like a lifetime ago. I remembered how nice it had been to get out of my uniform for our weekend off, how we had all decided on a whim to drive as far as we could towards the mountains before we had to turn around and head back to school, how Alanna had laughed at me when a slight breeze lifted my skirt and I immediately looked around to make sure Bones hadn't seen. I remembered the sun in my eyes as we took that picture, and how I had laughed until I was dizzy (though I couldn't for the life of me remember what the person taking the picture had said), and how Bones's arm jolted against my shoulders as he laughed, too. I remembered how Bones and I had fallen asleep with our heads resting on each other in the back seat while Alanna drove and she had pulled over and taken a picture and used it for blackmail. Actually, if I remembered correctly…

Yes, it was still there. Hidden behind the first picture was the one of me and Bones. It was blurry and the lighting was horrible, but we were still recognizable. Our faces were slack, our backs slumped forward and into each other, our hands in our laps and our feet tangled together. A long string of drool stretched from the corner of my mouth to Bones's shoulder. I had forgotten that part. That was both gross and embarrassing.

I rearranged the photographs so that the original one was in front again and placed the frame on top of my book. I leaned the sign against the wall so that it was standing up on my bedside table. As an afterthought, I retrieved a pen from the bottom of my bag, crossed out "mountains," replaced it with "milky way," and put it back. There were no mountains in space. That was simply ridiculous.

As soon as I had stuffed my now-empty bag under my bed, a comms unit over my desk that I hadn't noticed before bleeped a loud "Booo-weee-oooop," and Commander Spock came on and said "Doctors McCoy and Jones to the brig, please."

I jogged over (as well as I could jog in such a small space) and pressed one of the buttons, responding "Dr. Jones, on my way there. Jones out."

* * *

I arrived at the brig mere seconds after everyone else, having had to make a slight detour to pick up an emergency kit from the med bay. I half marched, half skipped to stand in a line with Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and Bones. Then I noticed the person in the brig.

Oh. My. God.

I had seen pictures of John Harrison before, but he looked somehow… _more_ in real life. His skin was pale, bordering on grey, and contrasted distinctly with his dark hair. Like mine, I thought absently, my mind casting back to the time that a random stranger had come up to me at a technology fair when I was in high school to comment on the lightness of my skin contrasting with the darkness of my hair.

Right, back to John Harrison. His lips were so full, and his nose was… different. His eyes were grey and shrewd and intellgent, obviously making rapid calculations about everyone that he was looking at. His shoulders were broad and muscular, and he was so tall and poised, and I could just imagine his perfect English accent…

I didn't notice that my mouth had fallen open slightly until his eyes met mine and he quirked an eyebrow, amused. I shut my mouth but didn't clear my throat or blush, for which I mentally applauded myself. That is, until I noticed that Bones was also staring at me, a disbelieving expression on his face. Then I blushed. And I knew that Harrison had noticed everything.

Without saying anything, Bones turned away and pulled the hole in the glass between us up to chest level. "Please put your arm through the opening, I need to take a blood sample." Harrison obeyed, but his eyes were on Kirk the entire time.

I turned to Kirk, too, and sighed when I saw the cuts and bruises on his face. I set my kit on the ground and began to open it, but he waved his hand at me to stop. Then Harrison started to speak and my knees melted.

I, um, actually don't remember what he specifically said. I was just focusing on the velvety tones of his voice and not sinking to my knees as I listened and not looking like I was focusing too much on either. I know that he _did_ tell the captain to look inside the torpedoes and to see what he could find at the coordinates . Then Bones and I left to take the blood sample back to the medical lab and Spock followed after Kirk to try to dissuade him from what was probably another stupid idea.

* * *

Bones and I worked very professionally, almost coolly, with each other after seeing Khan.

"Dr. Jones, what do you suggest for testing Khan's blood on? Jim says that he had 'almost superhuman powers,' so let's see what we can come up with."

"Well, one of the tribbles that you have has apparently died since the beginning of the voyage. We could see what regenerative properties the blood has based on what it can do to the tribble's body." He nodded and sent a nurse off to retrieve the creature. "Other than that, I would suggest chemical tests to check oxygen, glucose, and enzyme levels, as well as any other unusual compounds. I would be happy to take a sample to the chemical lab and request any necessary tests, or complete them myself."

Bones nodded again. "I trust the chem lab guys to run the tests, all you have to do it take the sample over." I winced slightly at the implication that _I_ couldn't be trusted to perform the tests, but nodded my affirmation.

"Yes Doctor, I'll take it now." I quickly transferred half of the blood sample into another test tube and flounced (yes, I admit it) out of the med bay.

I fumed all the way to the lab. What was the big deal? Harrison was good-looking, and Bones had never really expressed any interest in me. Ok, so maybe he had expressed a little interest in me. Ok, so maybe I had ignored most of the interest he expressed in me. He had always seemed distant in his affection, so I just let it lie.

I wondered vaguely if every woman who met Harrison swooned and sighed like I had. I hoped so. That had been more embarrassing than drooling on Bones's shoulder. That had been _ridiculous_, and nothing like I had ever experienced before. My mind continued to wander and I imagined Harrison's friends presenting him with a sign like mine for his birthday: "John Harrison: Starfleet's Official Swoon-Inducer. Most swoon-worthy guy this side of the Thames."

"Can I help you with something, Doctor?" I had reached the med bay without realizing it, and a confused lab technician was standing in front of me.

"Yes. Please run all the standard tests on this blood sample, but pay special attention to oxygen and enzyme levels. Dr. McCoy or I will send you a list of special tests to perform very shortly." I shoved the sample at the man and whipped around to make my exit.

* * *

I decided to say something significant to Bones when I got back to the med bay, but before I could even open my mouth I was interrupted by the "Booo-weeee-oooop" of the comms unit. This time it was Kirk's voice.

"Dr. McCoy, please report to the bridge." I must have sighed audibly because Bones spared me a glance as he walked past. Almost as an afterthought, the comms came back on and Kirk said, completely serious, "If the med bay isn't too busy, Dr. Jones had better come along to keep an eye on him." I could hear Bones's eyes roll as he very noticeably didn't wait for me and continued towards the bridge.

* * *

"I have to tell you Jim, when I imagined myself stuck on a deserted planet with a beautiful woman, there was no torpedo." Kirk turned around and raised an eyebrow at me, and I just shook my head and rolled my eyes. Kirk smiled a little in spite of himself and tried to keep Bones on course, but he continued to flirt shamelessly.

We were standing in the torpedo bay, Kirk right beside the comms unit on the wall and me just behind him. Dr. Marcus, who I really didn't like at the moment, was the one down on the planet with Bones, trying to dismantle the torpedo. Thankfully she didn't seem to respond to his advances.

"I once performed an emergency C-section on a pregnant gorn. Octuplets- that wasn't pretty. I think I can work some magic on your missile." Oh, I was going to kill him. I hadn't _flirted_ with Harrison, I had just… ogled him. Ok, yeah, maybe I was asking for this so soon after kissing him, but it still hurt.

Then a snap came through the comms as the missile activated. Oh my god.

The world around me went silent and fuzzy. I could see Kirk snapping terse instructions into the comms, could see his face in sharp detail, but couldn't hear what he was saying. All I could hear was Bones's voice, shaking slightly but determined, as he counted down to the missile exploding.

I panicked, plain and simple. I remembered all of the times that I had seen Bones, all of the times that I could have touched him or sat a little closer or hugged him, and I imagined all of the times that I would not be able to do these things in the future. I could see his smile and hear his drawling Mississippi voice and feel him hugging me and taste the whiskey on his lips, and one strangely irrational clear thought drifted through the barrier of fear and pounded itself against my brain- I shouldn't have poured out his whiskey because I was really going to need it in a moment.

Kirk put a hand on my shoulder to steady me- I had staggered forward a little- and I snapped back to reality just in time to hear Dr. Marcus diffuse the torpedo. Had I said that she wasn't my favorite person right now? I just changed my mind. I determined then and there to give her a hug when I got the chance. It would, of course, be nothing compared to the suffocating, relieved, apologetic, desperate hug that Bones would receive the next time I saw him.

"Jim, you're gonna want to see this." Bones's voice wafted through the comms unit.

* * *

**Author's Note Again: **In case you were wondering, yes, someone actually did come up to me at a student tech fair (a woman that I had never seen before) just to comment on the contrast between my hair and skin. It freaked me out when she knew my name, until I remembered that I was wearing a name tag. XD I couldn't resist slipping it in here.


	7. Chapter 6: How Did I Get Here?

**Author's Note:** Sorry it's been so long! I had a spot of writer's block, so I took a break, did some homework, watched "The Trouble With Tribbles," did a couple of alternate versions of this chapter until I was happy with it, read some other Bones/OC ("The Bird and the Bones" is excellent, BTW)... and finally, ta-da! :-) I had to weigh your anger at a bad chapter versus your anger at a long wait so... I hope it was worth it.

I had a strange moment today when I was at my friend's house shooting a book trailer for John Scalzi's "Redshirts." I was sitting there in my blue Starfleet uniform drinking this futuristic-looking blue soda, which was called- guess what?- Jones soda! I was like, "It's Isara!" and my friend was like, "You're insane!" But there you are. :-)

As always, reviews mean a lot to me as I love to know what works and what doesn't.

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**Disclaimer:** I don't own Star Trek, or else it would have looked a lot more like our book trailer from today.

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**Chapter 6: How Did I Get Here?**

Here's the thing: I had never been the kind of girl to throw myself at every man that I met. In fact, after Jimmy, I'd go so far as to say that I had kept my heart fairly guarded. It was strange enough that I had fallen for Bones, and he was kind, intelligent, funny, and good-looking, and I had had plenty of time to observe him before even becoming friends with him. For me to get weak in the knees over a cold-blooded, superhuman killer that I had only seen once was downright worrying. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.

I mulled over my current situation as I tapped notes on my PADD about Bones's observations on the frozen body from the torpedo. I decided to start at the beginning and analyze how I had gotten here, and therefore how to reverse it.

First- Jimmy forced me to join Starfleet.

_I pulled the sheets up over my head, but I could still hear the rocks that he was throwing against my window. I was all alone in the apartment tonight- my roommate had ignored my pleas and gone out clubbing- so there was no one to go down and order him away. I knew from experience that if I tried to make him leave, he would force past me and refuse to leave the house until I called the police._

_Finally, I gave up and opened the window, tentatively poking my head out and making my presence known._

_"__Go away!" I yelled down, hoping that a neighbor would hear and come out and make him leave._

_"__I refuse to let you leave me!" The response wafted back up through the night air. "We were meant to be together. There is nowhere on earth where I will not follow you."_

_Nowhere on earth, I thought tiredly as I shut my window. It was many hours later as I lay in bed trying to tell if Jimmy had left that I had my idea- there was a place that I could go where I would never have to set foot on earth again._

Second- I had met Bones.

_"__Hey, Jones. I just wanted to say sorry for Kirk. I know he's an ass. He knows he's an ass. I don't know why he needed to make that point to you; I'm just sorry about it. I'll make sure he leaves you alone. Oh, and… good for you, standing up to him like that. God knows where we'd be if he always got everything he wanted."_

Third- I had fallen in love with Bones.

_Alanna walked into the room and I tried to pretend that I had been doing homework, but she strode over and snatched the picture frame out of my hand._

_"__I knew it!" she crowed, then started singing. "Isara and Leonard, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! You stare longingly at photos of him, you hug him all the time and blush when he walks into the room…"_

_"__Shut up." I scowled and took the picture back, my thumb running over the vine pattern on the frame as I snuck one last look at the three friends in front of the mountains. "I was just remembering how much fun we had, that's all. I'm going to miss you guys after you graduate next week."_

_Alanna sobered and sat down next to me, putting an arm around my shoulders. "I'm going to miss you too, sweetie. I'll write you all the time, and I know that there's no way that Bones would ever forget to talk to you." She smiled reassuringly at me, and I sighed in relief. Hearing someone allay my fears, however silly they had been, helped immensely._

_Then I remembered what she had sung about us sitting in a tree, and I blushed. It wasn't altogether a bad image, but what chance was there of anything happening before they left?_

Fourth- Bones had left.

_I sat on my bed and cried. All classes had been cancelled after the _Enterprise_incident, and they were still waiting to get reports on the number of deaths. I knew full well that medical and engineering staff were two of the most vulnerable groups on the ship, because they didn't have the luxury of being able to strap themselves in and wait out the crisis- they had to keep doing their jobs no matter what was going on. If anyone had died, Bones was likely to be among them._

_My PADD blipped the "new message" icon just as the small information screen announced a news update. I tried to open them both at the same time, so my brain received the following message._

_"__Dear Isara," "No deaths whatsoever," "I'm fine," "a miracle," "going back to Mississippi," "valiant actions of Captain Kirk," "during the _Enterprise_repairs," "ship will require extensive repairs," "sorry I can't see you," "should take about two weeks," "I miss you," "senior officers receiving awards," "but my family haven't seen me in a year," "Pike injured but alive," "talk to you soon," "Captain Kirk, Captain Pike, Commander Spock, Lieutenant Uhura, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, other officers…"_

_I flopped back onto the bed and sighed, the tears still wet on my face and polar emotions swirling in my heart. Bones was alive, but I wouldn't see him. Wonderful._

Fifth- I had been reunited with Bones.

_I was really frightened. I hadn't had a panic attack since the last time I had seen Jimmy, but it felt like I had one coming now. My palms were sweaty, I was panting, and my stomach felt like it was doing yoga in my heart's usual position. I spun wildly, looking for any landmark on this unfamiliar ship, when my eyes settled on a puzzled face._

_"__Isara?" All of the tension fell away when I heard that voice say my name, and I closed my eyes and sighed. Everything was going to be okay._

Sixth- this was turning into a long list- I had kissed Bones.

_It was a wild impulse, one that I knew I would either regret later or be grateful for for the rest of my life. I my eyelashes fluttered as my lips brushed his, careful not to get too close lest he feel that I was being aggressive. All that I wanted to be was supportive, because my amazing, wonderful Bones needed my help._

_When I pulled away and saw the expression on his face, I wasn't sure yet which of the previous options the kiss had turned out to be. His eyes were closed and he hadn't reacted badly, but he looked so… confused._

_When he opened his eyes I licked my lips. I was easily able to identify the brand of whiskey from the one taste- I had had to do something to prevent myself from breaking down any time I saw someone who looked like Jimmy or why was named Jimmy or who even looked at me the wrong way. That was done with by the time I enlisted, but I still had "the taste."_

_I raised my eyebrows. "Jack Daniels? Really?"_

Finally, I had made eyes at John Harrison.

_I didn't blush until Bones looked at me. Then I saw myself through his eyes- kissing him and then ogling this London-based psychopath- or perhaps high-functioning sociopath (as a doctor, I felt compelled to do my research)- as if nothing had happened. Then I blushed._

I was so lost in my mental list that Bones had to snap his fingers in front of my face before I realized that he was speaking to me.

"Dr. Jones!" He glared at me, showing all of the southern temper that others knew him for and none of the southern sweetness that he usually showed me. "I asked if you got all of that down!"

"Yes, Dr. McCoy." I gave him a brief smile and swiveled my PADD so that he could see my neat bulleted points.

"Good. Send that off to the lab with the list of specialized tests for the blood." Bones turned away from me again and went to work on another info screen as Kirk and the others filed out of the lab. I did what he said, but kept half of my gaze on Bones's tense back and rigid shoulders.

"Bones?" I called softly across the med bay. He turned his head to the side slightly to indicate that he was listening. I looked around to make sure that all of the nurses had left to do inventory on the storage room before continuing. "I'm sorry."

He held up a hand. "If you want to chase after serial killers, that's none of my business."

I sighed, making sure that he could hear me. Then I decided what I would do- if I could pass it off with a laugh, maybe it would be easier to resolve.

"Okay, thanks." His shoulders hunched upwards in surprise but he didn't turn around. "I think that, as long as you're okay with it, that's what I'll do."

He spun around, and for just a fraction of a second I was truly scared. The anger and hurt in his eyes was astoundingly deep, and I was starting to doubt my slightly reckless gamble. Then he saw the teasing expression on my face and he sighed, putting his head in his hands. "Don't do that."

I waited for him to look up and smile, but he just kept his head in his hands. I walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. It was shaking slightly.

"Damn, I messed that up." I paused, waiting for his reaction. "What I was trying to say was 'I'm sorry.' I honestly don't think that Harrison is in any way attractive." I could tell that Bones was looking at me through his fingers. Instead of calling him out on it, I let him continue to be dramatic since it was really my fault that he was upset. "Any comment?"

His hands fell back down to his sides. "Like I said, it's really none of my business."

I put my hands on his shoulders so that he couldn't turn his back on me again. This wasn't working. "Bones, I know you're mad at me. Talk to me." I couldn't figure out why he was refusing to at least talk about this like a rational human being. Had he really changed that much in a year?

He fixed me with his gaze, his mouth hard. "You want me to talk to you? Why? What does it matter to you, since you and Harrison are so happy together?"

I stared at him. "Bones, I'm trying to apologize! Please tell me what I need to do to be your friend again." I knew that I sounded about five years old, but Bones made up 50% of my "real friends" category, and I wasn't going to lose that for anything.

Bones slumped, his posture changing in an instant from angry to indescribably weary. "I'm not saying you're not my friend. I just thought- after you kissed me- well, I was just being stupid, wasn't I. Please go back to work." He started to turn away from me again for the fiftieth time but I jumped in before he could.

"You thought we were going to be more than friends?" No response. "Bones, that's what I've been wanting ever since I met you! But you never looked at me twice. I never wanted to ruin our friendship, and then I kissed you today and you didn't react at all. Hormones don't go away in an instant, you know. They hang around in your body, making you more susceptible to attraction. That's what must have happened with me and Harrison In fact," I was really getting into debate mode now, "I remember a specific passage in my human biology textbook from a few years ago that ran-"

Suddenly Bones was kissing me. My lips continued to move in speaking patterns for a fraction of a second after our lips met, but soon they had stilled as I leaned into the kiss. It didn't last as long as I would have wanted because Bones was anxious to resolve the conversation.

"I'm sorry, Isara." He put his hand on the side of my face, his thumb grazing my cheekbone. "I'm just an old idiot. Do you hate me for it?"

I thought that the genuinely concerned tone in his voice was adorable. "Like I could ever hate you, you're my best friend." We were both full on smiling, leaning closer until-

"I do hope I'm not interrupting." I whipped around to see Harrison in the doorway, framed by six members of security. Just then, Kirk came on the comms.

"Bones, Dr. Jones, I'm sending Khan- that's his real name- down to the med bay for safekeeping. Keep an eye on him for a while, will you?"


	8. Ch 7: A Particularly Long Hallucination

**Author's Note: **Hey guys! This chapter is a little different, so let me know what you think. :-) Longest ever chapter!

Ok, no one has gotten it, so here it is: Jimmy is often referred to as Rose Tyler's abusive boyfriend before she met the Doctor. Did you catch the Sherlock one in the last chapter?

The quotes (really two halves of one quote) are from _A Tale of Two Cities_ by Charles Dickens.

Sailinginthenoondaysun requested more sarcasm from Bones, so I did my best since she's my bestie. :-)

Just one more chapter after this, but I think that I'll do a sequel and maybe some oneshots. Review if you want to see more Bones and Isara!

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**Disclaimer: **If I owned _Star Trek_, I wouldn't have had to do integral calculus for two hours tonight. For some reason. Apparently. Hopefully.

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**Chapter 7: A Particularly Long Hallucination**

Khan glared at me over Bones's shoulder as I separated out the plasma from his blood. I smiled lightly at him in the way that I might smile at a patient that I wasn't paying much attention to and concentrated on my task.

Khan kept trying to get my attention, much to Bones's chagrin. He would lean over slightly and try to make eye contact, so I made a point of moving around to all parts of the lab to make Khan sway back and forth to maintain eye contact. When I was behind Khan's back, Bones would look at me, clearly annoyed, and I would just roll my eyes and shake my head.

Finally the comms came on as a distraction. Kirk was allowing us to hear what was happening on the bridge so that we would be prepared for anything that might happen. Bones nodded to me and I began securing all of our supplies and patients in preparation for a jump to warp.

Khan swiveled partway around to raise an eyebrow at me when Bones turned his back, and when Bones saw it he jumped about a foot in the air. I tactfully moved to the other side of the med bay, where I could still hear Bones struggling to keep his voice down.

"Listen Khan, you keep away from Isara. Got it?"

"I'm not sure I understand you, Doctor."

"God, what are you, a bloody Vulcan? I said to keep away from Isara!" I leaned forward so that my hair covered my face and smiled. "What, do you think I'm stupid? I see you looking at her. Leave her alone."

One of the information screens pinged and Bones nodded me towards it. I did my best not to listen in on his conversation as I opened the message.

_Starfleet Headquarters_

_Stardate _

_RE: Dr. Isara Jones Aboard the Enterprise_

_Dr. L. McCoy,_

_We have considered your request to have Dr. Isara Jones as your second medical officer aboard the _USS Enterprise_, and we will have to decline it._

My heart stopped beating for a second.

_Starfleet regulations state that only one superior medical officer may be in position at any one time, and this must be chosen prior to launch of the ship, excepting emergency situations._

_However, the position of ship's historian is available. Dr. Isara Jones minored in galactic history during her time at the academy, and so is technically suitable for the job. Unless that position suddenly becomes necessary, however, she may continue to assist you in the medical bay._

I sighed in relief, but my attention was quickly stolen by the exchange now audible on the comms. Admiral Marcus had pursued us, apparently because Khan was an experiment gone wrong. I listened carefully, trying to fill in the holes in my knowledge of Khan.

It was true, galactic history had been my academy minor. The past had always fascinated me, and I knew that that information might become more pertinent than ever if Starfleet ever perfected that time travel program that I wasn't technically supposed to know about. Medics had always been my field of choice, but history was useful, too.

I thanked every god that I could think of that I had taken those classes.

Okay, Khan… genetic engineering… SS Botany Bay… I snapped my fingers. There were a few fairly hush-hush selective breeding experiments in the 1990s, and it later came out that the experimental specimens had been deemed unsafe and launched into space. Botany Bay was a penal colony in Australia a very long time ago, so it made sense that a ship full of dangerous superhumans would be named after it.

I heard Dr. Marcus get beamed off of the bridge, and my heart sank- first she had saved Bones, then she had tried to save everyone on the ship in the face of her own father. She was a nice girl, and I was sorry to see (or hear) her go both as a person and as our only protection.

My heart sank even deeper when Kirk was about to give away Khan's location- surely he had had a better plan than that?- but then he gave Admiral Marcus the wrong location and soon we had jumped to warp.

I wandered back over to Bones, trying not to show how worried I was. Apparently I failed, because he said soothingly, "At least we're moving now."

Khan tilted his head to look Bones in the eyes. "If you think you're safe at warp, you're wrong."

"Well, aren't you just a little ball of sunshine and rainbows." I snickered in spite of the situation and I saw Bones's eyes light up. The comment had been meant for me, not Khan.

"If this is some twenty-third century expression, I do not understand it." I clapped a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

Just then, a photon torpedo smashed into the ship and we all jumped sideways.

* * *

"Isara sit down and strap yourself in!" Bones hollered from across the med bay.

"No!" I screamed back, trying to treat one man for oxygen starvation as I treated another for a shattered rib, while a third cried out with the pain of his mangled leg. We had run out of pain medication a few minutes ago and were already running low on basic supplies. We had gone back to the old rules of wartime doctors- ignore those who will live no matter what and who will die no matter what, just focus on those who might die but can be saved.

Marcus's weapons had torn huge holes in the sides of the _Enterprise_ and damaged everything else almost beyond repair, not that engineering wasn't trying. In the med bay, time was nonexistent as we simply tried to keep up with the steady flow of patients who limped, crawled or were carried in.

Bones was cursing me and my stubbornness, but I was just paying attention to the tones of his voice in order to keep myself sane. Bones speaking, Bones yelling, Bones grabbing my arm-

He shoved me down into a chair and slapped the back, activating the seatbelt. I struggled against it halfheartedly, waiting until he was a few feet away to smoothly retract the restraint and carry on with my duties.

This one wasn't going to make it, so I didn't waste precious bandages on the gaping hole in his stomach. This one was vomiting and needed to be moved away from the others, though there wasn't enough room to get away from anyone in there. This one…

"Ensign Chancey?" I stopped just long enough to let my mouth fall open, then quickly shut it when I could taste the blood and sweat and vomit on my tongue.

"Dr. Jones." Chancey nodded to me and deposited an unconscious comrade in front of me before turning around again. "Have to get back to engineering, it's hell down there."

"Can't be much worse than up here." I looked around me grimly, feeling nausea curl in my stomach despite all my training. I knew enough to realize that, as soon as the shock and adrenaline wore off, I was going to need some serious therapy. And preferably hot chocolate.

That's when the gravity simulators started going. Everyone who had the energy leaned uphill in a synchronized motion, and I dashed around to secure all of the patients. My feet slipped around on the floors- I didn't stop to think too much about why they were slick- as I fastened seatbelts wherever I could. After a moment we stabilized, but I kept working. I knew Kirk well enough to know that this would be the least of the turbulence.

Speak of the devil, I thought as Kirk marched through the doors to the slightly isolated area where we were holding Khan. I could see him talking to Khan, then to Bones, who was finally working on the tribble experiment. If it worked, Khan's blood might well be the only medicine we had on board.

"Isara, hold down the fort for a minute. Be right back." Bones stuck his head around the glass just barely long enough to complete his sentence. I glared at him and blew a sweaty strand of hair out of my face. How much time did Bones actually spend on the med bay? It seemed like his main function was to stand on the bridge, make snarky comments, and keep Kirk from blowing everyone up. Well, I admitted, someone had to be responsible for that.

I switched on the comms so that I could listen to events on the bridge as I worked. I felt detached from everything, as though I was listening to a radio program that would end in time for a cup of tea before bed. I looked down at the blood on my hands, fighting the urge to gag. Then I straightened and continued working, allowing my mind to wander so that I didn't have to think about the death all around me.

I thought back to my home in Seattle. One day I had bought a bag of hot doughnuts at the Pike Place Market and wandered around downtown, eating them and getting powdered sugar all over my face and front. That was before I met Jimmy, so I had been fairly carefree. History was my favorite subject back then, and I thought that it was amazingly funny that we had a Lenin statue of our own.

I finished my last doughnut looking up at the pointed beard and shrewd eyes on the bronze statue. I walked in a circle around it. That was when I realized that someone had painted the fingers of Lenin's right hand a bright red- both the color of his political party and the blood that he had spilt as a result of his war communism policy and the other horrible things that he put the Russian people through.

I don't know how much time I spent contemplating past leaders of the Soviet Union, but it must have been a long time because I was snapped back to reality by Bones carrying Dr. Marcus into the med bay.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed when I saw the unnatural extra joint in her leg and the clearly visible boot print. Without any thought for Bones- that probably shows you how deep into the shock I was, if the Lenin ramblings didn't- I grabbed her and found an empty bed to set her down on. The regenerator would be useless with this kind of break, but I could do things the old-fashioned way. I ended up using a spare pillow case and a spanner that an engineering worker was still clutching to make a makeshift splint. When I had made her as comfortable as I could, I turned back to see Bones elbow deep in blood again.

Our eyes met for a brief moment and the bridge of his nose crinkled in concern. I must have looked pretty terrible- it had been about three hours since we had been hit, and I had barely sat down since then. My ponytail was in tatters, my shirt was torn and burnt- not sure how that last one happened- my eyes must have been bugging out of my head and I was completely splattered in blood and even less pleasant things.

"Isara, didn't you hear Spock call everyone to the torpedo bay?"

I looked around. We were the only two in the med bay. "No. I was kind of busy keeping everyone from dying. You can fill me in later."

Before anyone could say anything else I swung around and got back to work.

* * *

My mind went numb soon after that.

Bandage. Comfort. Bandage. Comfort. Shake head sadly. Bandage. No more bandages- use spare bedding. Comfort. Hold bucket. Hold hand. Bandage. Comfort.

* * *

Before long, the _Enterprise _was caught in the earth's gravity and we were tilting wildly. I was so glad that I had strapped everyone in at the first sign of turbulence, but now I was having a hard time getting a grip on something.

We were completely sideways, and I was clinging to the end of a bed. Bones had been able to slide down and sit on a wall, but I had a gaping expanse of hallway beneath me. And my hands were slipping. Wasn't this just brilliant.

"I think I'm in trouble!" I screamed at Bones. One hand came loose and I quickly swung it back up to grasp at the end of the sheets.

"Are you sure? I hadn't noticed!" he bellowed back, trying to pick his way across the wall without falling into any rooms or hallways. The _Enterprise_ was still in motion, so the angle kept changing, causing him to lose his balance.

I was really starting to panic now- my body was screaming at me to fight or fly, and I couldn't do either. I had never been the most athletic of people, and my overstressed body was quickly showing signs of wear in my shaking elbows and trembling fingers. I slipped. I slipped a little farther. I couldn't feel my hands.

"Isara!" Bones was yelling at me, but it sounded like his voice was reaching me through a mile of water. All of the patients were screaming, and every now and then someone in a red shirt would slide by on their path from engineering. I looked up and saw that I was only hanging on by my fingertips.

"Isara!" Bones was so close now, he was almost able to catch me.

But not quite.

* * *

I fell for what seemed like forever. I felt like Alice down the rabbit hole, watching everything pass in slow motion and not worrying too much about what was at the end of my journey.

At one point I looked up to see Bones reaching a hand towards me, and that's what pulled me back to my situation. I screamed involuntarily as the world around me sped up exponentially. The air, so sterile and perfect when I had first boarded the ship, sped by me in smoky, overheated gusts. Branching hallways and doors flickered past too quickly for my eye to properly register them. The only things that I was able to make out with any clarity were the bodies falling around me- one directly above, two farther below.

Since when had this hallway been so long?

I remembered my medical training and decided quickly on the best way to absorb the impact of the approaching wall, and I decided to land feet-first with my legs slightly bent, then try to tilt backwards and break my fall with my arms and buttocks.

I only just had time to get into position before the pure white wall was speeding towards me. I counted down in my head- three, two, one-

A lightning bolt of pain exploded up my legs, then I felt my neck whip backwards with the weight of my head. Then everything went dark.

* * *

I suddenly remembered what the photographer had said when he had taken that picture.

_"__Look at that, Isara!"__Alanna pointed towards the majestic peaks of the Cascade Mountains. "We should get a picture in front of them!"_

_"__I'll take it," Bones offered, holding out a camera._

_"__No, silly, you have to be in it!" Alanna scolded lightheartedly. Bones and I rolled our eyes in synchronization as Alanna dashed off to the first random person she saw. After a moment she returned, her eyes glowing as she dragged a cadet that I knew by sight behind her._

_"__Hugh is going to take it!" She grinned. I rolled my eyes again as we shuffled into a line._

_"__You know Isara, one day your eyes are going to freeze rolled back into your head, and then you'll only be able to talk to people who are taller than you."_

_"__At least I won't have to talk to you then," I retorted, rolling my eyes with an extra dramatic flair for effect._

_"__Ready, Hugh?" Alanna ignored me and called out to the youth holding the camera._

_Hugh sighed dramatically, adjusting the camera for the shot. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done."_

_I laughed at the literary reference- history class required me to do a lot of classic reading- and Bones and Alanna just stared at me with wide eyes. They didn't understand the quote at all. For some reason I found their expressions insanely funny, and started laughing harder. They started laughing at me, too, and I laughed harder, and they laughed harder, and soon Bones had his arms around both of our shoulders and we were all three leaning on each other for support. I the midst of this, the shutter on the camera clicked._

_Now I was falling again- why was I still falling? I thought that I remembered an impact. Quite a painful one, in fact. I decided that I must have been dreaming._

_I really was Alice falling down the rabbit hole now, and my blue Starfleet tunic had lengthened into a classic blue gown which billowed around me as I fell._

_Kirk leered at me from an opening in the wall, and I tried to get enough traction in the empty air to jump backwards. Then Kirk's face turned kind and smiling, but it was elbowed out of the way by Jimmy. Jimmy was pushed roughly aside by Bones, who was soon joined by Alanna. They smiled and waved at me, and Bones blew me a kiss._

_"__Am I dreaming?" For some reason I needed assurance that my guess had been correct._

_"__What, you don't think I'd kiss you in real life?" I had to laugh at Bones's affronted expression. Same old, same old._

_"__I miss you guys." I was suddenly very sad. What if I was dying, and I was never going to see them again?_

_Bones and Alanna were joined by Kirk, Chancey, and Pike, as well as a few other friendly faces from the academy._

_Pike smiled in a fatherly way. "Dr. Jones, the _Enterprise_ needs more minds like yours. Take care of her for me." Then he was gone._

_Chancey spoke next. "You really helped me out, Doctor. I'll never forget how kind you were to me on my first day."_

_I smiled back. "It's my first day, too. I hope all of our missions aren't like this." Then Chancey was gone._

_Some of my other friends waved and said goodbye, and then it was Kirk's turn. "Jones, you're a good one. I'm sorry I was rude to you. Any friend of Bones's is a friend of mine."_

_My eyes widened. "I really am dying, aren't I? Why else would you be being nice to me?"_

_Kirk sighed at me and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm your subconscious. You figure it out." A pause, then, "I don't think you're dying. I think you're in a hospital somewhere and Bones has you on really strong pain meds and you're hallucinating."_

_I rolled my eyes. "I'm always glad to have the opinion of my subconscious."_

_Kirk was gone, and just Bones and Alanna were left._

_"__I wish I was on the _Enterprise_," Alanna pouted. "Nothing cool ever happens on the _Bradbury_."_

_"__A-ha!" I grinned. "My subconscious remembered your assignment! Now I don't feel so terrible."_

_"__You shouldn't." She waved happily and left._

_Bones looked me in the eyes and opened his mouth, his expression full of gravity and depth._

_"__You're ok, I guess."_

_"__Bones!"_

_"__Okay, fine. You're amazing and I really missed you when I was away last year. Ok?" He scowled. "Also, if anything happens to you I'd never forgive myself, so you had better pull through, ok?"_

_I pretended to look thoughtful. "I'll think about it."_

_Bones rolled his eyes and disappeared without another word._

_I looked down at the deep blackness of the pit beneath me. I resigned myself to a particularly long hallucination, and decided to talk to myself to stay sane. Assuming I wasn't already insane._

_"__It is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known," I breathed as I wafted downwards._


	9. Chapter 8: Hallmark Moment

**Author's Note:** Last chapter! Did Isara survive? How's Alanna? Will Kirk finally get slapped? Find out now!

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Really? Do I need to do this again?

* * *

**Chapter 8: Hallmark Moment**

_Isara's POV_

If I was in a story, I would have woken up in Bones's arms as he bravely carried me out of the rubble of the ship.

Obviously I didn't live in a story.

The first time I woke up from my strange dreams, I was still crunched into the corner of the corridor. The pain in my legs had settled to a dull ache, but I could see that they were bent at an odd angle between me and the wall. I tried to shift my weight and the pain spiked again. A trickle of blood wound its way down beside my nose. After a few minutes I thought that I could hear a voice calling my name, but I might have just been starting to dream again.

After a few seconds I blacked out.

* * *

_Bones's POV_

He had gotten Kirk to the hospital, so he was going to be ok. All the rest of the crew were either safe and sound or too far gone for it to be worth trying to treat them. The only one still unaccounted for was Isara.

His heart clenched as he entered the damaged ship. Many of those who had fallen a great distance through the ship had broken their necks, but a few had escaped with nothing more than a broken ankle. The ship had righted itself soon after she had fallen, but then he had been busy saving Kirk and hadn't been able to look for her. If Kirk ended up causing Isara's death, by God, Bones was never going to speak to him again.

"Isara!" His voice echoed through the empty hallways. A small engineering crew was on board beginning repairs, but they were mostly down by the warp core. "Isara!" No response.

He went to the med bay and then followed the path that he had seen her fall. The ship hadn't tilted that much once she fell, so it was virtually impossible for her to have slid down one of the branching hallways that he kept passing. He sped up to a brisk jog, calling her name with slightly more panic in his voice.

"Isara!" He finally spotted her, folded tightly into a corner where the corridor made a sharp turn. Her eyes were just sliding closed when he caught sight of her but he could tell that she had barely been conscious at all. He flat out ran to her and slid his arms around her, gently pulling her away from the wall. As her knees straightened, his stomach clenched at the unnatural angle that her ankle was revealed to be at. He quickly stretched her out and assessed her.

Her ankles were both definitely broken, but he couldn't get the exact logistics because his tricorder was back in the hospital. It looked as though she had rolled backwards from the bruising that he could see through her tights. He made a small tear just above the ankle and slit them all the way up, his medical training kicking in. He intently examined the bluish patterns on her legs. After a moment, a blush crept up his neck as he realized what he was doing. He rolled her onto her back.

She had either hit her face on the wall or her own knees- there was a trickle of blood winding down from her hairline and another oozing from her left nostril. Other than that and maybe a concussion, she seemed to have escaped anything too traumatic.

Bones let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding and allowed his medical instincts to slip away. He gently eased his arms under her, smiling at the feel of her warm body pressed against his chest as he hefted her off of the ground. It still made his heart ache to see her head loll back, the crimson liquid changing direction to reveal a rivulet of rust-colored dried blood. He took a moment to just press his forehead against hers and take deep breaths. A single tear slid down one cheek.

He had truly thought that he might never see her again. His Isara. If she had died without ever knowing what she had meant to him, he would never have forgiven himself. He decided to tell her as soon as she woke up.

New resolve straightening his posture, he brushed a swift kiss across her slack lips and carried her out of the wreckage.

* * *

_Isara's POV_

The next time I woke up, I kept my eyes closed so that I wouldn't see any blood. I was tired of blood.

It felt like I was in my bed back in Seattle. The sheets were crisp and clean, but I could feel the weight of a thick comforter above me. The light through my eyelids was dim and soothing, and I thought that I could hear the murmur of rain on the roof outside my window. The smell was off, though- my room at home smelled like a coconut lime scented candle that I had bought on vacation, and this room smelled like… disinfectant?

I groaned and cracked open an eyelid. Of course I was in a hospital. Actually, I was surprised that I was still alive. The light was coming through half-closed blinds above my head, and the sound that I had mistaken for rain was the whirring of many machines around my bed.

I looked down to make sure that both of my feet were still attached. Miraculously, they were. I twitched one, and the corresponding lump under the mattress jumped slightly to the left. I continued to run a systems check- arms fine, except for the IV tube stuck in one arm. Breathing normal. Voice, fine.

"Lalala, testing one two three." My voice was croaky from disuse, but still functioning properly. I wasn't even nauseated, so I decided to risk pushing myself up to my elbows. It took some time with many small movements and adjustments, but eventually I was propped up against the pillows. I relaxed into them, not in any particular pain but very, very stiff.

A glass of water with a straw sat on the table next to me. I sipped it cautiously, all too aware of the consequences of putting too much in an unused stomach. As I reveled in the cool liquid, I caught sight of myself in a mirror across the room. My hair was stringy and flat and my face was pale except for dark circles under my eyes. I thanked my lucky stars that Bones couldn't see me like this.

"Isara, you're awake!" I sighed. No such luck. I smiled sincerely, though- there was no one else, perhaps Alanna, who I would rather have with me when I was injured.

"Hey, Bones!" He winced at my raspy voice but came to sit by my bed. "Thanks for not amputating my legs."

He smiled gingerly. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah." We both sat silently for a minute, and I played with the paper edge of my hospital gown. "How long was I out?"

"About a day. We regenerated your legs pretty fast, but you were pretty banged up in general. We decided to keep you unconscious for a while and let you rest." Bones hesitated, then reached out a hand to hold mine. "You should be able to walk by tomorrow."

"Great." He raised an eyebrow at the sarcasm in my voice, so I added "I don't like being trapped in bed." I fluttered my lips in annoyance, and I saw him watching. I smiled again.

"How did everyone else do?" I wanted to make sure that the rest of the Enterprise crew had made it out okay.

"Well, Kirk died-" Bones quickly put his other hand over mine at the horrified expression on my face- "but he's back now. We gave him a transfusion from Khan to bring him back. You were responsible, really. It was the tribble experiment that gave me the idea." I sighed, relieved. "All of the others on the bridge were fine- Spock, Uhura, Chekov, Sulu, even Scotty came back in the end. You missed quite the adventure."

I sat in quiet awe as Bones filled in the details of the amazing story. "You're kidding- you could hear him all the way up in the med bay?"

"Yeah, I didn't think the Vulcan had it in him to feel that sort of emotion. But then there I am, trying to get away to look for you, and I just hear him bellowing Khan's name." I giggled slightly at the image of Commander Spock raising his voice for any reason, then quickly sobered again for the rest of the very serious story. When he finished, there was a long pause.

"Who knew that you could miss so much just being unconscious one day!" I sighed. Bones stared at me, but I was genuinely disappointed to have missed all of the action. "Where's Khan now?"

Bones looked at me with a strange look in his eyes as he answered. "They're holding him here in headquarters. He knows now that his crew is still alive, and has agreed to donate as much blood as possible over a three day period and then be put back into cryostasis."

"I want to see him." Bones gaped at me with his best "You must either be totally insane or suicidal or I heard you wrong" face.

"What for?"

"I was one of the two doctors who examined him on the ship, and you're going to be busy babysitting Kirk. No one else has any basis of comparison." Bones raised an eyebrow at me. "Look, he was just doing what he thought was right." Bones started to speak, and I held up a hand to stop him. "How he reacted was terrible and wrong, but understandable. Do you think that Kirk would be able to negotiate rationally if everyone on his ship was taken hostage and he was threatened with their deaths if he didn't cooperate?"

Bones leaned in to me. "Maybe not, but I don't think that he'd go on a killing spree!"

"Did you ever take any world history classes?"

"What?"

"Hitler came to power in Germany because his country was treated so badly for playing a big part in World War I. What Germany did was terrible, yes, but they just got the worst of it because they lost. That's Khan and his crew. World War II was yesterday- or the day before, or whenever the heck all of that happened- when he came back and lashed out even harder than before." I could tell that I had lost him because his eyes glazed over. "Whatever, forget the analogy. My point is that a little human compassion can go a long way."

"Towards a mass murderer?!"

"Humor me, Bones. He's restrained, it's not like he can do anything."

Bones eyed me suspiciously, but finally gave in when I pushed my bottom lip out in a pout. "Fine. But not until tomorrow evening, I don't want you collapsing just trying to walk down there."

I tried to hug him but winced when the IV tugged at my arm. "Thanks, Bones."

* * *

The next evening I was up and walking just fine. I had been off of the IV since that morning, solid food was causing me no trouble, and the medications had almost completely taken care of my lingering bruises. I easily got into a crisp white ground hospital uniform and marched down to the basement where Khan was being held, swinging my arms and enjoying the lingering heat of the day.

The atmosphere around me wasn't so relaxed, however. There had been many deaths. Huge amounts of property had been damaged. I had gotten off easy, and I knew it.

I finally reached the foot-thick steel doors that barred access to Khan's cell. A dozen or so frightened-looking security guards fidgeted in front of them, glancing from me to their leader, sitting at an info screen, to me again.

"Dr. Isara Jones, here to see Khan." The man glanced up at me, then pulled up my information without a word.

"You've been given the security clearance, but this still says that you're under the medical supervision of Dr. McCoy."

I handed him a slip of paper. "Here's a note from my Doctor." I smiled as he examined the note.

"I have to recommend against it, Doctor. He's manipulative at the best of times, but he's just experienced defeat. He'll be extra dangerous."

I nodded briskly. "I know. I just need to do a quick examination to complete the data I collected on the ship."

The man shrugged, then pressed a button on the wall and gestured me between the enormous doors as they slowly grated open. "I can give you five minutes. After that, he's going to have another blood draw and you'll have to leave."

I nodded, then frowned when two of the guards tried to follow me in. "That won't be necessary, thank you." They stopped, probably more out of surprise than obedience, and I used the opportunity to open the first of the passcode-locked doors that began my path to see Khan.

* * *

Khan sat in his same black uniform, restrained in a standing position on an inclined plane. Thick bands wrapped around his upper and lower arms and legs, chest, stomach, and forehead. I stood for a moment and watched him, noticed the way that his dark eyes darted around the room to finally rest on me. I advanced.

I came to stand by his... "bed" for lack of a better word. His gaze pierced into my mind, but I was calm. There was nothing that he could do to me; I was the one in power here.

"I'm sorry." I spoke quietly, without moving my lips, but I could tell that he had heard me by the way that his brows drew together and down. "I'm sorry that they treated you the way that you did." I moved in to take his pulse and kept muttering. "I'm sorry that they held your crew. I'm sorry that they treated you like an experiment gone wrong. I'm sorry that that idiot Marcus forced you to work for him."

I moved around him slowly like I was trying not to startle a wild animal. He hadn't responded, but I decided that he would have said something sarcastic if he didn't want me to continue talking. "I understand why you did what you did. It wasn't right and I can't forgive you, but I understand. If I was in charge, you and your crew would be on a nice little uninhabited planet right about now. But I'm not, so you're not. There's nothing I can do about that."

He responded, also keeping his lips still to fool the cameras. He was much better at it than I was. "Is that why you came here? To apologize?"

"What kind of doctor would I be if I didn't finish a scientific investigation once I started it? Anyway, that's not the only reason." By now I had located all of the cameras in the room and taken note of them. "I wanted to say 'good luck.' You probably won't have any more trouble from Starfleet, but take this just in case." I leaned across him, ostensibly to insert a small needle into his other arm, but gave him a quick hug out of sight of the cameras.

This hug was furtive and quick, mostly just my left arm snaking under his shoulder to squeeze him close. I pulled back quickly to gauge his reaction. His eyes were squeezed shut, but I thought that I could make out a small tear glistening in the corner of his left eye. I couldn't believe it- had I managed to get a reaction out of the famously stoic Khan?

"What is your name?" His low, gravelly voice was hard to make out.

I hesitated for a moment. "Dr. Isara Jones."

"Thank you, Isara," he murmured after a minute. His eyes were still shut, so I left quietly when he didn't say anything else.

I meandered slowly back to my hospital room, contemplating his reaction. It wasn't all that odd, I decided. Everyone he loved was still in cryogenic sleep. It had probably been much more than three centuries since he had been hugged, considering his history on Earth. Everyone, no matter how high-and-mighty, yearns occasionally for human contact. Sometimes they don't even realize it.

* * *

"This is an announcement to all members of Starfleet assigned to the USS Enterprise. Repairs are estimated to take most of a year. The first two months will be given as shore leave in light of recent traumatic events. Afterwards, crew members will be assigned land positions until repairs are completed. Thank you, that is all."

* * *

I strutted across campus, Bones at my side. Our hands were tightly clasped together and swung between us as we walked. The sun was out, repairs were beginning all over town, and we were out of our uniforms and heading to meet an old friend.

"McCoy! Isara! Wait up!" Kirk chased after us, waving. Bones and I rolled our eyes in synchronization- we were getting good at that- but allowed him to catch up. "Can I come with you guys? Scotty ditched me."

Bones glanced at me, but I smiled. "Sure. Just try not to be an ass."

Kirk smirked at Bones. "You two are so perfect for each other."

"ISAAAARRRAAAA!" The scream very nearly deafened me, but I screamed back and dashed towards the figure in the distance. Pretty soon I collided with Alanna, and we jumped up and down and screamed with our arms around each other. Eventually Kirk and Bones caught up with us and we reluctantly separated. Bones put his arm around my shoulders and Alanna grinned knowingly at me. I grinned back.

"So! The gang's all together." Bones looked around at the three of us. "What should we do?"

Kirk and Alanna yelled "Go clubbing!" at the exact same moment.

"I honestly don't care, as long as we all do it together." I smiled around at everyone. It was a beautiful pause, until-

"Hallmark moment!" Kirk grinned mischievously at me, and I charged him. He ran away and I chased him, intent on slapping him. Bones and Alanna followed at a leisurely pace, and I heard Alanna laugh.

"Same old, same old."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Don't worry, I'm already planning a sequel and a series of oneshots with Isara, Bones, Alanna and Kirk. :-) See you again soon, lovely readers!


	10. Epilogue Or Not?

Hey everyone! I have posted the first chapter of the next Isara story, if anyone is interested. :-) It may or may not include a summer road trip and Spock and Uhura being added to the group of friends.

If you're not interested in the vacation stuff, I'll let you know here when I post the NEXT story, which will take place when everyone is back on the _Enterprise_. That will include a bossy xenobiologist, a shape-shifting, romantically-roving alien, and, of course, all the antics of the characters that you know and love.

As a reward for being such good little readers, I've included part of the first chapter of "Isara Jones: New Friends and Old Flames" here. If you want the chapter in its entirety, you'll have to go to the other story. :-) Enjoy! And love from Isara.

**New Friends and Old Flames Chapter 1**

_Isara's POV_

The club was pretty rowdy by my standards, but Kirk and Alanna were obviously having a good time. Alanna was in her trademark fuscia, this time manifesting itself in her cropped tank top and Converse sneakers. Her faded denim shorts were nearly invisible what with the throbbing mass of dancers and the dizzying way that she was twirling around. Kirk, in his plain white t-shirt, kept trying to get close enough to her to dance, but she would twist away with a flirtatious hair flip and make it look like she hadn't even noticed him. I had to admire how finely she had honed her teasing skills.

I leaned against the wall, which pulsed against my back with the intensity of the music. It was a popular new dance song- "The Growl"- and all the clubs were playing it. I allowed my head to nod slightly in time with the beat, though it wasn't really my kind of music. One time I took a 20th century art history class, and I did a report on jazz and swing from the 1920s through the 1940s. From the first strains of Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, I had been hooked. I missed the sounds of real instruments played by real people, and voices that hadn't been synthesized and adjusted until they were robotic.

I was jolted out of my reverie by Bones touching my shoulder and gesturing towards the dance floor, one eyebrow raised. I smiled and nodded. I was finally out of my uniform for a while, and had dressed specifically for dancing- jeans and flats would be comfortable, and a sequined blue top wasn't too revealing but would sparkle nicely under the lights.

Bones obviously didn't know how to dance to this kind of music any more than I did- he looked confused for a moment, then started bobbing up and down by bending and straightening his knees in time to the music, hands in his pockets. I laughed and shook my head. I grabbed his arm and pulled him through the crowd, heading for where I had last seen Kirk and Alanna.

Alanna squealed and waved at us, grabbing Kirk in a similar manner and dragging him over. She immediately saw our dilemma and illustrated how to dance to the club music, bouncing and jumping around, waving her arms and twisting her hips. I thought that I imitated her fairly well, but Bones was failing miserably. Alanna laughed at him and gestured to Kirk, who was doing similar dance moves but in a more "manly" fashion. After a few tries, the four of us were dancing in tight group and grinning away at each other like the slightly insane people that we were. I sighed happily, the sound masked by the thumping bass of the nearby speakers. It was great to have everyone together again.

After a while we all got tired, so Bones, Alanna and I parked ourselves at a table off to one side while Kirk grabbed drinks. I fanned myself halfheartedly with my hand, my shoulder slumped up against my chair. Bones gave me a concerned look and I smiled happily at him. It had been a very long time since I had been out dancing.

I scanned the crowd of people all around us, wondering where Kirk had wandered off to and what poor girl was being aggressively flirted with. My eyes fell on a very specific face and widened in alarm. I ducked under the table, much to Bones's surprise, and stayed hunched down by Alanna's feet.

"Isara? What is it?" Her worried voice wafted down to me.

"Be quiet!" I hissed. "It's Jimmy!"


	11. Bonus: Drops of Jupiter

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! This is just a little treat for you since I've been so bad about updating lately, _and_ we've reached a total of over 150 follows on the two stories combined! HUGS.

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**Disclaimer:** If you can find anything in here that even remotely resembles _Star Trek_, let me know. I seem to have misplaced my plot.

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**WARNING:** Not only does this have NO PROPER PLACE IN THE REAL PLOT, but it has also not been betad. Read at your own risk. ;-)

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**Drops of Jupiter**

_Isara's POV_

I didn't know how Alanna had swung it, but here the four of us were at a table in a Karaoke bar on a Friday night. She and Kirk were looking excited and were just waiting for an opportunity to jump up and take their turn. Bones and I were slumped over the table, exhausted- the two of us had been working graveyard shifts in the campus infirmary all week.

Alanna leaned towards me, smiling happily. "This place is amazing because they play music from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. You like that music, don't you?" I flopped my head in an approximation of a nod. "Cool! I asked if they had jazz and swing, and they said that they did..." she trailed off, looking worried.

"Thanks, Alanna." I smiled genuinely at her, and she relaxed. I think that she was trying to make up for an entire year of not seeing each other in the few weeks that we would have together. So far, she was actually doing a pretty good job.

"You and Bones have to sing, too," Kirk smirked as he stood up to take the mic. I sighed. It wasn't that I hated singing- I sang all the time- I was just... so... tired...Kirk posed dramatically as the song began. "I'm, too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts..." I rolled my eyes. I should have seen that coming. Most of the young women in the bar started getting excited and pushed towards the stage, sighing and shrieking as Kirk pointed at them each in turn. He gyrated his hips as he sang in a way designed to grab the attention of everyone, but I couldn't help but notice that his eyes stayed more or less on Alanna.

It was painful to make it all the way through the song, but eventually the music died and I happy applauded the cease. Alanna immediately jumped up, smirking and obviously determined to one-up Kirk. Judging by the annoyed look on Kirk's face when she started singing, she had succeeded."Boy you don't try the front, I know exactly what you a-a-a-are." Alanna made no attempt to hide the object of her song, instead pointing directly at Kirk and grinning at his glare. "You you you are, you you you are, womanizer, womanizer, womanizer, womanizer!" Kirk huffed indignantly and slouched back in his chair. Bones and I whistled and applauded loudly.

"Ok Isara, your turn!" Alanna finally passed me the mic, face flushed happily, over the hands of several waiting singers. I grabbed it and trudged up to the stage, unsure of what song to select. I was fairly sure that none of the songs that I could sing confidently were available- but then I was surprised. Alanna had grown impatient and selected one for me. I nodded my head in time to the familiar bouncy piano beat."Steppin' out, with my baby, can't go wrong 'cause I'm in right, it's for sure, not for maybe, that I'm all dressed up tonight." I stood in the style of old jazz singers, one knee slightly bent as I held the microphone in both hands and twitched my hips in time with the beat. The song was traditionally meant to be sung by a man, but I easily took the melody up an octave and let my voice flow smoothly over the words.

My eyes strained through the dark room to see my friends. Most of the club had gotten distracted once the older, simpler song started, but not them. Alanna was beaming and giving me the thumbs up. Kirk was openly gaping at me. Bones's mouth also hung open, his eyes wide. Had I never mentioned that I could sing? Oops. Oh, well, now they knew.

Eventually the song ended. I took a small bow and made my way back to my seat amid quiet, scattered applause. I grinned at Bones and pulled him to his feet, shoving the microphone at him."Your turn."As he grudgingly moved past me and towards the stage, Bones slipped a hand around to my opposite shoulder and pulled me close for a quick peck on the cheek. "That was really amazing, Isara." He graced me with one of his rare smiles.

"Thanks!" I smiled and squeezed his arm. I collapsed into the chair that Alanna had held for me while I was onstage and ignored her and Kirk's pats on the back- I was too engrossed in Bones up on stage. I had never heard him sing- indeed, it almost seemed against his usual nature. I was extremely curious as to which song he would choose and how he would sound.

"Now that she's back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair, she acts like summer and walks like rain, reminds me that there's a time to change." It was my turn to be completely astonished. My mouth dropped open and I was quickly lost in the tones of his voice. "Tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded and that heaven is overrated? Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star, one without a permanent scar? And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?" I took back everything I had thought earlier about singing being against Bones's nature. This particular song, bitter and sad and longing and also somehow loving, was the perfect fit for Bones. "Told a story 'bout a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land." While I was pretty sure that Bones didn't have a clue what tae-bo was and was rebelling against the implication that you would have to travel somewhere else to be in the Milky Way, the depths of his eyes said that he felt everything that the song was saying. He stood tall and his voice was full.

When this song ended, he got a genuine round of applause from the club and a standing ovation from our table. The magic came out of him with the music and his shoulders were once again defensively tight as he shoved through the crowd and back to us.

"That was BRILLIANT!" I almost screamed, throwing my arms around him.

"I sang a little when I was younger." He shrugged off the praise, the tips of his ears bright pink.

"No, seriously, that was incredible." I leaned over and pressed our lips together for a second. He scowled at me.

"No. No bribing me. I am not singing again." I kissed him for slightly longer, and I could feel him leaning into the kiss, wanting to give in. When I pulled away, he was looking a little dazed. "Umm... no?" I gave up and wrapped him in a tight hug, swaying slightly back and forth in time to whatever song was playing then and using all of my special hugging powers. He finally relaxed into me and sighed.

"Okay, fine. But not tonight."

I grinned, gesturing Alanna and Kirk out of the club and grabbing Bones's hand. "That's okay. Right now I want the best soy latte I've ever had."

"And me," he added, mock-indignant. I kissed him gently on the cheek.

"And you."

"Get a room or keep up, lovebirds!" Kirk called back as he and Alanna pushed ahead and out the door. We kept up.


End file.
